7b 

83-B 

9584 


H  I  NTS 


FROM   THE   ENGLISH  OF 


JOHN  C.  L.  SPARKES, 

HEAD  MASTER  OF  THE   NATIONAL  ART  TRAINING  SCHOOL,  SOUTH 
KENSINGTON,  DIRECTOR  OF  THE  LAMBETH 
SCHOOL  OF  ART. 


Edited  and  Revised  by  an  American  Decorator, 

WHO  HAS  ADDED  DESIGNS  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  BORDERS,  ETC.,  USED 
BY  THE  CELEBRATED  WEDGEWOOD,  AND  A  LIST  OF 
ALL  MATERIALS   USED   IN   CHINA  AND 
TILE  DECORATION. 


BOSTON: 
S.  W.  TILTON  AND  COMPANY. 


FLAXMAN'S 

OUTLINE  DESIGNS, 

FOR   DECORATIVE  PURPOSES. 

First  Series  of  Twenty  Designs. 
Price,  $i.oo. 


HINTS  ON 

China  and  Tile  Decoration, 

From  English  of 
JOHN  C.  L.  SPARKES. 

Edited  and  Revised  by  an  American  Decorator, 

With  Illustrations. 
Price,  50  cents. 


Treatise  on  the  Art  of  Producing 

Phantom  Flowers 

AND 

Skeleton  Leaves. 

illustrated. 

Price,  $2.00. 


HINTS 


FROM    THE   ENGLISH  OF 


JOHN  C.  L.  SPARKES, 

HEAD  MASTER  OF  THR   NATIONAL  ART  TRAINING  SCHOOL,  SOUTH 
KENSINGTON,  DIRECTOR   OF  THE  LAMBETH 
SCHOOL  OF  ART. 


Edited  and  Revised  by  an  American  Decorator, 


WHO  HAS  ADDED  DESIGNS  OF  THE   PRINCIPAL  BORDERS,  ETC.,  USED 
BY  THE   CELEBRATED  WEDGEWOOD,   AND  A  LIST  OF 
ALL   MATERIALS    USED    IN    CHINA  AND 
TILE  DECORATION. 


BOSTON: 
S.  W.  TILTON  AND  COMPANY. 


COPYRIGHT. 

By  S.  W.  TILTON. 

1S77. 


Electrotyped  and  Printed  by 
Raitd,  Avery,  a 7 id  Company % 
it?  Franklin  Street, 
Boston. 


INTRODUCTION 

TO 

AMERICAN  EDITION, 


The  success  which  has  attended  our  elementary  work 
on  the  decoration  of  unglazed  pottery  induces  us  to 
offer  our  patrons  a  more  advanced  treatise,  not  as  a 
substitute,  but  as  an  onward  step  in  the  art. 

The  love  of  decoration,  and  the  desire  to  give  tan- 
gible and  permanent  expression  to  that  quality  of  our 
nature,  is  universal  among  mankind. 

The  ease  with  which  thousands  have  produced  pleas- 
ing effects  by  simple  black  lines  and  figures  upon 
unglazed  pottery  leads  them  naturally  to  desire  to 
execute  more  artistic  work  in  color,  on  glazed  surfaces, 
over  white  or  translucent  bodies,  i.e.,  to  the  decoration 
of  crockery  or  faience,  and  china  or  porcelain. 

With  their  characteristic  enthusiasm  (stimulated  by 

9 


IO  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  EDITION. 

the  Centennial  Exposition)  our  people  are  beginning  to 
emulate  the  older  nations  of  the  world  in  their  pursuit 
of  this  form  of  art. 

The  student  of  art  cannot  proceed  far  in  his  investi- 
gations without  discovering,  that,  among  savage  and 
nomadic  tribes  the  world  over,  there  is  a  marked  simi- 
larity, almost  identity,  in  the  form  of  their  rucle  designs, 
whether  on  their  war-clubs,  bark-cloth,  or  their  pottery. 

When  this  stage  is  passed,  and  they  become  perma- 
nently located,  then  their  art  assumes  a  distinctive 
national  character,  —  an  individuality,  influenced  by 
the  natural  scenery  of  the  country,  and  by  religious 
ideas.  Thus  we  have  Egyptian,  Grecian,1  Chinese, 
Japanese,  Moorish,  French,  English  art  ;  each  having 
characteristics  which  the  initiated  recognize  at  once, 
however  difficult  to  describe.  In  no  form  of  art  are 
these  national  peculiarities  more  clearly  expressed  than 
in  pottery  decorations. 

As  the  work  we  now  present  to  the  public  treats 
entirely  of  the  methods  of  work,  we  may  be  permitted, 
in  our  Introduction,  to  make  a  few  suggestions  relative 
to  the  designs  themselves. 

1  The  publishers  of  this  book  are  preparing  a  little  work  with  illustrations  on 
Greek  ornament,  as  applied  to  Pottery. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  EDITION.  II 

If  the  designs  to  be  painted  are  selected,  we  would 
have  the  student  bear  in  mind  the  above-mentioned  fact 
in  reference  to  the  different  national  schools  or  types 
of  art  expression. 

Thus  if  a  part  of  the  design  of  an  object,  or  set  of 
objects,  is  Egyptian,  all  should  be.  If  a  part  is  Jap- 
anese in  its  character,  all  should  be,  to  secure  unity 
and  harmony. 

Not  only  should  this  be  borne  in  mind  in  regard  to 
the  design,  but  also  in  the  colors,  in  which  as  great  a 
difference  is  manifest. 

When  an  original  design  is  to  be  made,  the  artist  has 
a  choice  as  to  whether  the  decoration  shall  be  geo- 
metrical, conventional,  or  naturalistic  in  its  character. 
Whatever  it  is  to  be,  let  it  be  well  seen  mentally,  clearly 
thought  out,  before  it  is  sketched  on  the  object.  The 
beginner  should  first  make  a  draught  on  paper. 

The  geometrical  treatment  has  been  described  in 
our  previous  work,  pp.  26,  27. 

The  conventional  treatment  is  taking  some  natural 
form,  as  a  leaf,  branch,  or  flower,  of  a  particular  plant, 
and  changing  it  to  suit  the  requirements  of  the  particu- 
lar object  upon  which  it  is  to  be  used,  without  destroy- 
ing the  resemblance  so  but  that  it  would  be  readily 


12  INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


recognized.  Once  having  this  conventionalized  form, 
it  may  be  repeated  without  variation  as  many  times  as 
necessary  to  decorate  the  object. 

This  method  has  always  flourished  in  the  best 
periods  of  art,  and  languished  in  the  worst,  says  Owen 
Jones. 

The  naturalistic,  as  the  word  implies,  is  that  form 
of  decoration  where  the  artist  attempts  a  literal  copy 
of  nature.  This  is  generally  very  unsatisfactory,  and 
especially  so  in  ceramic  art,  where  the  surface  is  either 
convex  or  concave. 

If  the  human  figure  or  animal  forms  are  used,  they 
should  only  be  treated  in  outline  or  flatly,  without 
relief  by  shading,  without  foreground  or  distance  ;  and 
all  appearance  of  perspective  should  be  avoided.1  The 
Greeks  understood  and  practised  this.2 

Josiah  Wedgwood,  who  was  a  man  of  true  artistic 
feeling  as  well  as  a  practical  potter,  used  very  simple 

1  We  would  suggest  that  the  student  should  make  a  study  of  Flaxman's 
Outline  Designs,  a  series  of  which  has  recently  been  re-issued  in  this  country 
by  the  publishers  of  this  little  work.  Flaxman,  who  was  the  greatest  of  English 
sculptors,  was  for  a  time  engaged  by  Josiah  Wedgwood.  The  beautiful  classi- 
cal designs  on  the  earliest  productions  of  the  celebrated  Wedgwood  ware  were 
many  of  them  executed  by  Flaxman. 

2  Designs  and  Instruction  for  Decorating  Pottery,  pp.  32,  33. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  AMERICAN  EDITION.  1 3 

and  chaste  conventional  forms  and  low-toned  colors  in 
the  decoration  of  his  wares. 

The  student  of  Nature,  from  the  artistic  point  of 
view,  finds  in  our  woods  and  fields  many  beautiful 
forms  not  yet  appropriated  by  the  decorative  artist,  but 
which  are  well  adapted  for  his  purposes.  As  we 
advance,  these  forms  will  undoubtedly  be  used,  and  will 
aid  in  giving  us  our  distinctive  national  artistic  char- 
acter. 

We  may  study  with  profit  the  lessons  the  Old  World 
can  teach  us ;  but  we  must  also  go  to  Nature  as  she  has 
shown  herself  on  this  continent  if  we  are  ever  to  arrive 
at  an  individual  American  art. 

Believing  as  we  do  that  the  study  and  practice  of 
ceramic  decoration  is  one  of  the  simplest,  most  pleas- 
ing, and  most  profitable  forms  art  can  assume  for  the 
amateur,  that  it  adds  to  the  charms  of  the  home,  and 
fosters  the  development  of  pure  taste  in  every  other 
department  of  household  art,  we  confidently  commend 
this  little  work  to  your  attention. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  singular  interest  that  has  been  excited  in  late 
years  in  the  subject  of  pottery  is  at  this  time  bearing 
remarkable  fruit  in  the  shape  of  a  wide-spread  effort 
to  produce  forms,  and  surface-decoration  on  forms, 
that  shall  rival  those  done  in  such  old  times  as  are 
regarded  as  being  peculiarly  rich  in  artistic  light  and 
insight.  The  rivals  to  the  ancient  works  are  seen 
daily  in  increasing  numbers  and  in  varying  beauty, 
and  of  most  diverse  colors  and  characters.  Scarcely 
a  month  now  passes,  but  some  addition  is  made  to  the 
number  of  wares  decorated  by  new  methods,  which 
take  the  impress  of  the  individual  minds  that  have 
invented  them.  We  thus  have  had  revivals  in  ma- 
jolica, faience,  lustered  ware,  &c;  and  with  all  we 
may  say  truly,  that  as  examples  of  pottery,  —  that  is, 
more  especially  in  the  mechanical  and  material  con- 
struction of  the  new  wares, — they  greatly  exceed  the 

15 


1 6  .  INTRODUCTION. 

old  ones  in  perfect  finish,  durability,  and  chemical 
combination  of  their  parts,  both  in  body  and  in  glaze. 
But  this  is  not  every  thing ;  and  it  is  well  known  and 
seen  that  the  ancient  works,  and  those  of  the  Renais- 
sance, excel  our  own  in  their  taste,  artistic  freedom, 
and  wealth  of  ideas ;  and  in  these  particulars  we  have 
still  much  to  do  to  equal,  still  more  to  do  to  excel, 
these  Old- World  productions  of  the  potter's  art. 

But  the  spirit  is  abroad  ;  and  in  all  European  coun- 
tries the  same  active  interest  in  pottery  is  perceived. 
Among  a  large  class  of  amateurs  in  this  country  there 
is  a  want  of  practical  information  on  the  methods  of 
work  in  pottery  decoration  ;  and  no  doubt  the  absence 
of  this  practical  knowledge  is  the  reason  why  so  much 
less  china  and  pottery  painting  is  done  by  amateurs  in 
this  country  compared  with  Germany,  for  instance. 

For  these  this  little  handbook  is  mainly  intended  ; 
and  the  writer  will  feel  well  rewarded  for  his  work  in 
putting  it  together,  if  it  should  conduce  to  the  spread 
of  a  wider  appreciation  and  practice  of  the  beautiful 
fictile  art,  that  has  from  the  most  ancient  times  been 
the  object  of  admiration  to  legions  of  persons  of 
taste  and  of  cultivated  mind. 


HINTS  FOR 

China  and  Tile  Decoration. 


At  the  risk  of  saying  what  nearly  every  one  already 
knows,  it  must  be  made  clear  at  the  beginning  what 
pottery  is.  A  pot  is  a  vessel  made  of  clay.  Clay  is 
that  natural  substance  produced  by  the  grinding  and 
washing  down  into  hollows,  or  places  where  it  can 
settle,  of  many  sorts  of  rocks  ;  and  as  the  varieties  of 
rocks  are  many,  so  are  the  varieties  of  clay.  But  to 
take  a  familiar  example  :  the  clay  of  the  fields  in  the 
Weald  of  Sussex  or  Kent  has  a  sufficient  consistency 
to  stick  together.  Its  particles  may  be  moulded  with 
the  hands,  pressed  into  moulds,  or  dealt  with  vari- 
ously ;  and  it  is  thus  plastic  by  reason  of  the  quantity 
of  water  that  is  in  combination  with  the  earthy  par- 
ticles. A  flower-pot,  for  instance,  made  of  this  clay, 
and  set  aside  to  dry  in  the  shade,  would  keep  its  form 
and  be  precisely  the  same  flower-pot  as  when  it  was 
wet,  except  that  it  would  have  shrunk  a  little.    If  this 

17 


i8 


CHINA    AND    TILE  DECORATION. 


were  exposed  to  the  heat  of  the  summer's  sun,  still 
more  water  would  be  expelled ;  and  the  clay  from 
would  become  harder  and  closer  in  texture,  and  might 
be  used  for  many  indoor  purposes,  but  would  not  allow 
of  any  use  that  involved  the  contact  with  water,  as  it 
would  still  be  a  mere  clay  pot.  If,  however,  it  were 
put  into  a  fire,  so  that  so  much  more  of  the  water  was 
driven  out  as  to  change  its  hardness  to  that  of  a  tile 
or  a  brick,  then  fluid  might  be  put  into  it  without  any 
risk  of  its  falling  to  pieces  ;  and,  when  water  has  been 
thus  driven  out  by  fire,  it  does  not  again  enter  into 
combination  with  the  clay,  and  the  vessel  remains  a 
piece  of  pottery  forever.1  Thus  the  art  of  so  prepar- 
ing clay,  and  forming  it,  and  burning  it,  that  it  takes  a 
permanent,  unalterable  form,  is  that  of  the  potter. 

The  flower-pot  that  we  have  taken  as  an  illustration 
may  be,  after  firing,  white,  yellow,  red,  gray,  blue, 
black,  or  any  or  all  of  these  together  :  that  is  a  condi- 
tion dependent  solely  on  the  clay  of  which  it  was  made, 
and  the  presence  or  absence  of  iron  or  other  coloring- 
matter  in  the  clay. 

Now  the  fired  flower-pot  has  certain  characteristics. 
It  is  insoluble,  somewhat  brittle,  porous,  gives  a  dry, 
adhesive  sensation  to  the  tongue,  and  is  more  or  less 
rough  and  gritty  to  the  touch,  and,  on  the  whole,  not 


1  The  drying  expels  the  water  that  is  mixed  with  the  clay  mechanically ;  the 
fire,  that  which  is  united  with  it  chemically. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


19 


a  very  useful  thing  for  the  higher  purposes  of  life. 
For  many  ages  all  pottery  was  in  this  rough,  half- 
finished  state  ;  and  it  is  very  doubtful  if  the  Greeks 
ever,  or  the  Romans  up  to  the  age  of  Augustus,  knew 
any  thing  of  any  other  pottery.  But  the  remedy  for 
these  defects  of  texture  is  twofold  :  one  is  by  skilfully 
compounding  the  body,  so  that  it  is  rendered  imper- 
vious ;  the  other  is  by  coating  the  porous  body  with  a 
glaze,  by  which  is  meant  a  film  of  glass.  By  adopt- 
ing this  latter  method,  we  have  the  combination  that  is 
usually  seen  in  a  piece  of  useful  pottery ;  namely,  a 
"  body "  more  or  less  rough  and  porous,  covered  with 
a  "  glaze/'  which  gives  the  piece  smoothness,  a  gloss, 
and  renders  it  quite  impervious  to  moisture. 

The  first  method,  viz.,  that  of  rendering  the  body 
impervious,  applies  mainly  to  two  kinds  of  ware,  — 
china,  as  it  is  usually  called  (which  is  porcelain),  and 
stoneware.  Other  wares  are  made  impervious  by  their 
glaze. 

It  was  a  great  event  in  manufacturing  industry  when 
it  was  found  that  firing  a  form  of  clay  made  it  inde- 
structible. It  was  a  second  step  onwards  when  a  true 
glaze  was  discovered.  Certainly  the  potters  of  Baby- 
lon knew  the  process,  as  the  remains  of  their  tiles 
show.  But  many  hundreds  of  years  elapsed  before 
the  secret  was  given  to  the  Western  world  ;  and  this 
came  either  through  the  Moors  by  tradition,  or  was 


20 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


re-invented  by  them.  In  any  case,  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury glazed  pottery  was  produced  in  Spain  by  the 
Moorish  potters. 

Glaze  and  glass  are  made  out  of  the  same  materials. 
Flint-sand  and  soda  fused  together  make  glass ;  the 
addition  of  metallic  oxides  gives  color,  opacity,  or  a 
better  power  of  cohesion  to  glass ;  and  these  are  pre- 
cisely the  conditions  of  glaze  as  applied  to  pottery. 

Here  are  now  two  essentials  to  the  proper  formation 
of  a  useful  piece  of  pottery,  —  first  the  body,  secondly 
the  glaze.  The  methods  of  making  and  applying  these 
are  questions  for  technical  pottery,  not  for  this  little 
work. 

Enough  to  say,  that  the  form  as  it  comes  from  the 
kiln,  after  its  first  firing,  is  called  "  biscuit."  It  is  then 
dipped  into  a  creamy-looking  mixture,  consisting  of  the 
various  materials  which  make  the  glaze,  ground  to  a 
fine  powder,  and  mixed  with  water.  When  the  porous 
ware  is  dipped  into  this  mixture,  a  certain  absorption 
of  the  water  takes  place,  and  a  deposit  of  the  solid 
parts  of  the  glaze  follows ;  and  the  vessel  is  again  fired, 
when  the  heat  of  the  kiln  reduces  these  particles  of 
glass  to  a  smooth,  shiny,  and  glossy  surface,  exactly 
fitting  to  the  body  over  which  it  has  been  applied. 

Leaving  stoneware  and  china  out  of  consideration 
for  the  present  (although  they  may,  also,  be  glazed  or 
not),  this  piece  of  pottery  is  what  is  called  earthenware, 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


2  I 


and  is,  in  fact,  the  pottery  of  the  middle  ages  equally 
with  the  pottery  of  to-day.  The  red  pans  and  pitchers 
of  the  English  rural  districts  are  of  this  construction  : 
so  is  the  ordinary  earthenware  of  our  dinner-services. 
The  decoration  is  of  most  varied  kind  ;  but  the  great 
fact  about  it  is,  that  the  body  is  an  absolute  thing, 
that  always  influences  the  colors  that  are  put  over  it, 
and  which,  at  the  same  time,  determines  the  color  of  the 
glaze,  except  when  a  "  slip  "  of  clay,  or  some  opaque 
substance,  is  put  between  the  body  and  the  glaze. 

A  great  step  onwards  was  again  made,  when  it  was 
discovered  that  any  common  clay,  that  might  be  almost 
or  quite  like  a  brick  in  coarseness,  could  be  coated  with 
an  enamel  made  from  tin,  which  would  give  a  white 
ground  for  the  artist  to  work  on.  This  discovery  also 
came  from  the  East,  and  was  developed  by  the  Moors 
in  Spain.  Their  ware  was  exported  to  Italy,  where  it 
was  used,  in  the  form  of  circular  dishes,  to  decorate 
their  churches.  It  was  believed  that  it  came  from 
Majorca.  The  Italians  called  this  ware  "  majolica,"  to 
indicate  this  real  or  fancied  origin.  The  exportation 
was  carried  on  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  finest  ex- 
amples of  the  ware  are  or  have  been  found  in  Italy, 
not  in  Spain.  The  revival  of  arts  and  manufactures 
in  Italy  in  the  great  fifteenth  century  had  its  effect  on 
the  potters  and  their  art;  and  certain  Italian  potters 
re-invented  the  tin  enamel  for  a  covering  of  the  coarse 


22 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


body  they  were  obliged  to  use.  It  is  known  that  the 
earlier  Italian  ware  is  simply  lead  glazed  on  the  body, 
and  that  the  change  to  the  tin-enamel  system  of  cover- 
ing the  body  took  place  early  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
Later,  towards  the  end  of  the  century,  they  imitated  the 
lustre  ware  so  successfully,  that  they  far  surpassed  their 
Moorish  originals,  especially  with  a  certain  ruby  lustre 
of  Gubbio,  which  remains  a  marvel  and  a  delight  to 
artists  and  collectors  to  this  day.  These  wares  were 
presents  for  kings,  and  were  sought  after  in  distant 
countries,  where  they  moved  the  ingenious  to  various 
efforts  at  imitation.  At  any  rate,  in  the  course  of  two 
hundred  years  these  tin-enamel  wares  were  made  in 
France,  Germany,  and  Holland;  and  Palissy's  troubles, 
that  are  so  widely  known,  were  doubtless  due  to  his 
lack  of  understanding  of  the  proper  constituents  of  the 
tin  enamel,  —  a  piece  of  information  that  any  potter 
across  the  Alps  could  have  given  him.  This  Palissy 
ware  is  tin  enamel ;  so,  also,  is  delft ;  and  this  was 
the  system  generally  adopted  to  obtain  artistic  pottery ; 
and  the  ware  thus  made  is  called  "  majolica"  in  Italy, 
" delft"  in  Holland,  and  "Palissy  ware"  in  France. 
It  may,  perhaps,  be  well  to  say,  that  modern  English 
majolica  is  simply  made  by  the  ware  being  dipped  or 
painted  with  a  colored  glaze,  which  then  runs  or  fuses 
by  the  heat  of  the  kiln,  and  so  covers  the  coarse  and 
hard  body  ;  but  it  is  the  product  of  the  accidental  run- 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


23 


ning  together  of  the  different  glazes  with  which  it  was 
covered.  The  name  is  a  mere  trade  distinction,  and 
has  no  relation  with  the  Raphael  ware,  or  other  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance.  On  the  other  hand,  "  faience," 
in  its  modern  signification,  is  exactly  the  same  as 
earthenware,  and  is  a  French  distinguishing  name, 
taken  from  the  wares  from  Faenza,  —  not  the  Italian 
town,  but  a  town  of  the  same  name  in  the  south  of 
France,  which  produced  ordinary  ware,  simply  painted, 
and  glazed  afterwards.  The  Lambeth  " faience"  is 
exactly  of  this  character. 

There  is  a  class  of  pottery  distinct  from  these.  It  is 
called  "stoneware,"  and  was  made  in  the  earliest  ages  of 
art.  It  is  one  of  the  undiscovered  facts  in  the  potters' 
history,  when  stoneware  was  first  made.  It  differs 
from  every  kind  of  faience  or  majolica  manufacture  in 
being  of  impervious  body,  in  which  it  is  like  porcelain. 
It  further  differs  from  every  kind  of  ware  whatever,  in 
being  glazed  with  the  fumes  of  salt.  It  differs  still 
further  from  all  other  wares,  by  being  fired  and  glazed 
and  finished  in  one  operation.  During  its  first  and 
only  firing,  which  converts  the  brittle  and  useless  clay 
vessel  into  impervious  ware,  and  when  an  intense  white- 
heat  is  reached,  salt  is  thrown  into  the  kiln,  either  from 
above,  through  holes  in  the  crown  of  the  kiln,  or  into 
the  fire-holes  beneath,  or  into  both.  The  intense  heat 
decomposes  the  salt,  which  is  changed  by  the  same 


24 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


agency  into  a  gaseous  fume  or  steam.  One  constituent 
of  salt,  the  chlorine,  escapes  out  from  the  kiln  as  vapor : 
another  portion,  however,  the  soda,  as  it  flies  through 
the  kiln,  meets  with  the  white-hot  ware,  in  which  is 
always  a  portion  of  silex,  or  flint,  and  forms  with  it  a 
silicate  of  soda,  or  soda-glass.  This  subtle,  aerial  glaz- 
ing is  thin,  transparent,  intensely  hard,  and  almost 
indestructible,  and  does  not  coat  the  finest  line  or 
scratch  so  thickly  as  to  obliterate  it.  It  is  on  this 
account,  from  an  artistic  point  of  view,  the  perfection 
of  glaze.  But  the  disadvantages  are  numerous.  Few 
colors  can  stand  the  trial  they  are  subjected  to  in  the 
intense  heat.  The  more  or  less  accidental  contact  of 
the  fire,  which  has  its  currents  of  more  or  less  intense 
heat  streaming  through  it  from  the  fire-hole  to  the 
crown  of  the  kiln,  produces  various  unforeseen  effects 
on  the  color  of  the  ware  and  on  the  color  of  the 
pigment  used  in  its  decoration.  Again  :  the  acci- 
dental path  taken  by  the  salt  in  its  downward  course 
from  the  crown  of  the  kiln  to  the  white-hot  ware  pro- 
duces great  and  unanticipated  results  in  the  color  of 
the  ware,  and  leads  to  a  bleaching  or  washing  out  of 
even  strong  colors,  such  as  cobalt,  which  not  unfre- 
quently  changes  to  gray  or  brown  under  the  excitement 
of  this  downpour  of  chemical  matter.  Such  is  the 
method  of  glazing  stoneware  with  salt,  which  has  been 
practised  for  hundreds  of  years.    The  ware  produced 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


25 


by  this  method  was  made  in  Germany,  especially  on 
the  Rhine,  and  is  now  sold  by  dealers  under  the  name 
of  Gres,  or  Gres  de  Flandres.  A  revival  of  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  the  old  Gres  was  decorated  has  been 
made  at  Lambeth.  It  is  called  "  Doulton  ware,"  and 
has  justly  attained  to  great  celebrity,  on  account  of  its 
fine  form,  and  great  harmony  of  color.  The  old  gray 
color  is  to  be  attributed  not  only  to  the  clay,  but  also 
to  the  fact  that  all  the  old  ware  was  fired  with  wood  as 
fuel.  This,  of  course,  is  not  the  case  with  the  Doulton 
ware,  which  is  fired  with  coal :  hence  the  difference  in 
general  tone  and  color  from  the  old  Gres.  The  fif- 
teenth, sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  centuries  saw  this 
old  Rhenish  pottery  at  its  best.  It  declined,  in  the 
beginning  of  this  century,  or  end  of  the  last,  to  a  mere 
manufacture  of  useful  articles. 

China,  or  porcelain,  is  to  some  extent  related  to 
stoneware,  inasmuch  as  the  body  is  completely  im- 
pervious ;  but  it  has  a  beautiful  quality  of  its  own, 
that  is,  its  transparency.  The  importation  of  porcelain 
from  China  and  Japan  in  the  middle  ages  was  scarcely 
known;  but  with  the  energetic  spirit  of  discovery  of 
the  seventeenth  century  was  joined  an  equally  earnest 
one  of  trade  ;  and,  in  consequence  of  this  conjunction, 
pieces  of  Oriental  porcelain  were  found  in  Europe  from 
that  time  in  an  always  increasing  number,  until  the 
beauty  of  the  material,  more  than  its  exquisite  decora- 


26 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


tion,  made  its  importation  into  Europe  become  a  real, 
perceptible  demand.  This  was  met  by  large  quantities 
being  sent  from  the  East,  but  naturally  at  so  high  a 
cost  as  to  stimulate  potters  to  produce  a  material  that 
would  take  the  place  of  the  imported  ware.  One  by 
one  the  potters  abroad  and  at  home  found  out  the 
mystery  of  the  composition  of  porcelain.  It  is,  of 
course,  made  of  china-clay,  or  kaoline,  and  is  glazed 
with  china-stone  or  "  orthoglaze,"  —  a  material  that  has 
all  the  constituencies  of  true  glaze,  but  found  naturally 
in  the  china-clay  districts.  Various  accidents,  that 
read  like  the  chance  occurrences  of  a  romance,  led  to 
the  discovery  of  the  true  earth  ;  and,  one  after  another, 
all  the  countries  of  Europe  had  their  china-potteries, 
many  of  them  supported  or  subsidized  by  the  State  or 
by  royal  persons.  Such  were  those  at  Meissen,  Sevres, 
Chelsea,  and  others. 

To  the  historian  of  pottery  this  discovery  was 
remarkable,  chiefly  from  its  influence  on  the  "faience  " 
or  "  majolica  "  wares  of  Italy  and  other  countries.  It 
caused  their  abandonment  as  coarse  and  heavy ;  and 
it  retains  its  supremacy  to  this  clay,  when,  although 
revivals  are  numerous,  they  are  in  all  cases  revivals  of 
wares  in  themselves  artistic,  and  are  on  this  ground 
interesting.  No  effort  is  made  to  apply  these  new 
wares  to  the  every-day  uses  subserved  by  our  china  or 
modern  earthenware  productions. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION.  27 

To  sum  up  what  has  been  said,  there  are  these 
various  forms  of  pottery  :  — 

1.  The  mere  baked  clay,  such  as  a  brick,  tile,  or 

flower  pot,  called  "  terra-cotta." 

2.  This  common    material,  coated  with  a  film  of 

glass,  which  may  or  may  not  cover  colors, 
called  " earthenware,"  "faience,"  &c. 

3.  This  common  material,  coated  with   an  opaque 

white  enamel  on  which  colors  may  be  placed, 
called  "  enamelled  ware  "  or  "  majolica." 

4.  Stoneware,  an  impervious  body  glazed  with  salt, 

such  as  Gres  de  Flandres  and  Doulton  ware. 

5.  Porcelain,  an  impervious,  semi-transparent  body, 

with  a  pure  earthen,  non-metallic  glaze. 
Under  one  or  other  of  these  heads  all  pottery  may 
be  classed. 

It  is  no  part  of  this  work  to  enter  into  the  processes 
and  materials  out  of  which  vessels  of  pottery  are  made. 
It  will  be  sufficient  to  understand  that  earthenware 
may  be  of  any  clay  body,  and  may  range  from  black 
to  white  through  every  shade  of  color,  and  that  what 
the  body  is,  that  also  is  the  main  color  of  the  ware 
when  glazed  ;  further,  that  this  body  is  glazed  with 
certain  admixture  of  sand,  in  which  silex,  quartz,  or 
felspar  are  combined  with  borax  and  soda,  and  that 
this  mixture  may  be  the  vehicle  for  the  introduction  of 
lead ;  also  that  this  glaze  may  be  colored  with  any 


28 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


of  the  metallic  oxides.  This  is  the  majolica  of  the 
shops  of  the  present  day.  The  majolica  of  the  Renais- 
sance is  this  body  covered  with  a  glaze  which  has  been 
rendered  opaque  and  white  by  oxide  of  tin  or  by  lime. 

The  glaze  of  stoneware  has  already  been  described, 
and  the  glaze  of  china  also.  It  is  necessary  that  the 
painter  should  know  the  nature  of  the  body  and  the 
glaze. 

DIRECTIONS. 

In  painting  a  large  surface  of  tiles  with  any  continuous 
pattern  or  design,  or  even  when  only  three  or  four  tiles 
are  placed  one  above  the  other, —  to  form  a  panel  of  a 
fireplace,  for  instance, — great  care  is  requisite  to  match 
them  exactly,  both  for  size  and  color ;  for,  although  all 
the  tiles  are  exactly  the  same  size  when  they  are  put 
into  the  kiln,  the  different  amount  of  firing  they  there 
undergo  causes  them  to  shrink  in  proportion  to  the 
heat  they  receive ;  those  that  are  fired  most  being 
smaller  than  those  less  fired  :  this  necessitates  the  care- 
ful selection  from  a  large  number  of  tiles.  Also  see 
that  the  lines  of  the  sketch  are  continuous  over  the 
lines  of  junction  of  the  tiles,  and  that  they  all  meet 
properly,  before  you  commence  to  paint. 

It  is  necessary,  for  comfort  and  clean  work,  to  take 
no  color  on  the  palette  that  has  not  been  ground  on 
the  glass  slab  with  the  muller,  and  so  completely  that 
all  grittiness  has  entirely  disappeared.    All  that  should 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


29 


be  done  on  the  palette  is  the  smooth  mixing  with  the 
palette-knife  of  the  color  with  the  proper  amount  of  the 
medium  that  has  been  selected  for  use. 

Prepared  colors  do  not  need  grinding  on  the  slab  ; 
but  they  must  be  well  ground  with  the  palette-knife  on 
the  palette. 

Keep  all  color  —  that  on  the  slab  as  well  as  that  about 
to  be  used  on  the  palette  —  free  from  dust:  for  this  pur- 
pose, place  an  inverted  saucer  over  the  color  when  it  is 
not  in  use.  All  particles  of  dust  cause  small  accumu- 
lations of  color  to  surround  them  on  the  work,  and,  in 
firing,  are  fixed  as  dark  spots.  Particles  of  wool  from 
the  wear  of  carpets  and  woollen  dresses  are  quite  as 
injurious  as  grit,  and  form  what  is  called  "lint"  in  the 
color. 

Scrape  the  color  towards  the  centre  of  the  palette, 
and  thus  avoid  the  waste  and  untidiness  that  is  pro- 
duced by  allowing  it  to  run  to  the  edges. 

It  is  wasteful  to  mix  more  color  and  medium  than 
will  be  needed  during  the  time  of  work,  as,  if  mixed 
with  oil,  it  becomes  too  "  fat,"  or  oily,  by  standing 
exposed  to  the  air,  and  will  be  quite  unfit  for  use  in 
twenty-four  hours. 

Keep  all  brushes  scrupulously  clean  by  washing  them 
in  turpentine  after  use,  and  carefully  smooth  the  hairs 
to  a  point  before  they  are  put  away,  in  order  to  keep 
them  even,  and  in  right  condition  for  future  use.  If 


30  CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 

kept  in  a  case  or  box,  it  is  well  to  guard  against  any 
bending  back  of  the  points  from  pressure,  as  such  an 
accident  will  render  the  brushes  useless. 

Stipplers,  softeners,  and  dabbers  should  be  washed 
out  in  soap  and  water,  as  they  must  be  perfectly  free 
from  one  color  before  they  are  used  for  any  other.  And 
it  is  very  difficult  to  insure  this  cleanliness  with  the 
washing  in  turpentine  only,  in  the  case  of  such  thick 
brushes. 

Be  sure  that  they  are  perfectly  dry  before  they  are 
used,  or  the  surface  of  color  to  which  they  are  applied 
will  be  made  streaky  and  uneven. 

It  is  a  small  matter,  but  one  of  great  comfort,  to  have 
all  the  sticks  for  the  brushes  of  good  length,  and  well 
fitting  into  the  quills. 

When  sitting  to  paint,  the  artist  should  endeavor  to 
maintain  as  upright  a  position  as  possible  :  it  is  the 
easiest  attitude,  and  one  that  gives  opportunity  of  mak- 
ing good  use  of  the  "  rest."  Avoid  the  habit  of  stoop- 
ing over  the  work.  Very  little  fatigue  is  perceived  after 
a  day's  work,  if  this  is  constantly  borne  in  mind. 

It  is  important,  that,  in  the  selection  of  any  piece  of 
ware,  a  sound  piece  should  be  chosen.  If  flawed,  or  in 
any  way  not  quite  perfect,  there  is  danger  that  it  may 
"  fly,"  or  break,  when  exposed  to  the  heat  of  the  kiln; 
which  means  that  the  labor  bestowed  on  the  piece  is 
wasted. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


31 


Glazed  china  and  earthen  ware  that  has  become  soiled 
may  be  washed  in  warm  water  with  a  little  soda  before 
being  painted  on.  When  thoroughly  dry,  the  part  to  be 
operated  on  may  be  wiped  over  with  a  little  turpentine  : 
it  will  aid  the  flatting  of  the  color,  and  assist  the  artist 
in  his  efforts  to  "  lay  "  it. 

When  painting  plates  or  plaques,  finish  the  centre 
before  commencing  the  border,  as  it  is  impossible, 
otherwise,  to  avoid  rubbing  the  edges. 

The  above,  in  connection  with  remarks  on  page  59, 
are,  in  the  fewest  words,  the  materials  that  the  painter 
will  require.  The  methods  of  using  them  now  have  to 
be  mentioned. 

MANIPULATION. 

First,  the  word  "medium  "  has  been  mentioned.  A 
medium,  in  an  artistic  sense,  is  any  material  that  will 
assist  the  mechanical  placing  of  the  colors  on  the  sur- 
face to  be  painted,  or  will  assist  or  retard  the  drying  of 
these  colors,  so  as  to  make  their  manipulation  more 
easy.  With  the  china-painter  a  medium  has  precisely 
the  same  office. 

As  there  are  two  distinct  systems  of  painting,  viz.,  in 
oil  or  water,  there  are  two  distinct  classes  of  mediums 
corresponding  with  these. 

Oil  medium  may  be  used  for  over-glaze  and  for 
under-glaze  work  ;  water  mediums,  the  same. 

Oil  medium  consists  commonly  of  spirit  of  turpen- 


32 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


tine,  and  turpentine  which  has  assumed  a  condition  of 
viscidity  and  thickness  called  "  fat  "  by  the  professional 
painters.    It  is  prepared  in  the  following  manner  :  — 

Pour  a  few  drops  —  about  half  a  teaspoonful  —  of 
turpentine  into  a  clean  saucer,  and  let  this  stand  ex- 
posed to  the  air,  carefully  protected  from  dust.  The 
spirit  evaporates  from  the  liquid  in  part,  and  leaves  a 
thickened,  sirupy  fluid.  Add  a  few  more  drops  of  spirit 
every  day,  until  enough  has  accumulated  for  use.  This 
change  in  the  condition  of  the  turpentine  cannot  be 
hastened  by  heat,  as  exposure  to  a  high  temperature 
causes  so  rapid  an  evaporation,  that  the  whole  passes 
off  as  vapor.  The  process  is  much  retarded  if  too 
much  spirit  is  put  into  the  saucer  at  one  time. 

If  tube-colors  are  used,  there  will  be  no  necessity  for 
this  manufacture,  as  they  are  prepared  with  the  right 
quantity  of  medium  mixed  for  immediate  use. 

Another  medium  is  spirits  of  tar.  In  the  same  man- 
ner as  that  just  described,  it,  too,  may  be  made  "  fat." 
This  is  used  with  the  ordinary  spirit  of  tar  as  a  diluent, 
exactly  as  the  ordinary  turpentine  is  used  to  cause  it,  in 
its  "  fat  "  condition,  to  flow  more  freely. 

For  under-glaze  ware,  where  there  is  much  absorp- 
tion, common  olive-oil  may  be  used,  but  is  not  to  be 
recommended. 

In  water-color  painting  on  china,  any  material  that 
will  hold  the  particles  of  color  together  will  serve  for 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION.  33 

the  purpose  of  a  medium.  Gum  is  the  one  usually 
used,  and  may  be  added  to  the  color  as  gum-water,  or 
as  a  fine  powder,  which  can  be  mixed  with  the  dry  color 
in  proper  quantity. 

Pottery  is  colored  in  many  totally  different  ways. 
For  instance,  the  body  may  be  tinted  to  any  color 
within  the  range  of  pigment  by  mixing  the  pigment 
with  the  clay  of  which  the  pot  is  composed.  This 
gives  either  an  even  tint  or  a  mottled  one  ;  and  some 
of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  Wedgwood  and  early  Staf- 
fordshire ware  is  produced  by  mixing  and  pressing, 
and  moulding  together,  various  colored  clays  or  bodies, 
which  are  then  shaved  in  a  lathe  to  cut  off  the  surface 
of  these  different  tints  truly. 

Another  way  is  to  tint  the  glaze.  This,  too,  usually 
gives  an  even  tint,  but  may  be  made  to  produce  certain 
pleasing  effects  by  the  different  thickness  of  the  glaze, 
which  will  be  darker  in  parts  that  are  sunk  or  hollowed. 
Modelled  tiles  and  plaques  are  sometimes  dipped  into 
colored  glaze,  when  the  varying  thickness  of  the  glass 
produces  the  effect  that  is  sought. 

There  are,  also,  the  various  methods  that  are  distinct- 
ly related  to  the  painter's  means,  inasmuch  as  the  color 
is  applied  with  a  brush.  The  whole  subject  of  ground- 
laying  is  too  large  to  be  more  than  hinted  at  here;  but, 
among  the  most  practical  plans,  these  may  be  men- 
tioned :  — 


34 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


It  is  clearly  a  tedious,  and  sometimes  a  difficult, 
thing,  to  lay  a  flat  background  between  the  spaces  of 
some  elaborate  design,  such  as  a  mass  of  foliage  or  a 
geometric  pattern. 

This  may  be  effected  by  painting  the  pattern  with  a 
stopping-out  composition,  composed  of  gum,  or  size, 
and  chalk,  colored  to  any  convenient  tint  with  ordinary 
pigment,  and  then  laying  on  the  ground  with  a  large 
brush,  with  perfectly  flat  and  even  color  over  every 
thing.  When  the  vessel  thus  treated  is  washed  or 
soaked  in  water,  the  stopping-out  composition  dissolves, 
and  the  background  alone  remains. 

Another  plan  for  obtaining  a  perfectly  flat  tint  is  to 
paint  the  surface  to  be  colored  with  medium  ;  that  is, 
in  fat,  oil,  and  turpentine,  exactly  as  a  gilder  prepares 
his  ground  for  the  reception  of  the  leaf -gold :  this 
preparation,  when  half-dry,  is  dusted  over  with  very 
finely  ground  powder-color  with  a  piece  of  cotton-wool, 
which  strews  the  film  of  dust  perfectly  smooth  and 
even. 

This  method  may  be  used  with  the  last-named 
stopping-out  material. 

These  manipulations  give  absolutely  flat  grounds  or 
tints,  —  so  flat  as  to  be  often  inartistic.  They  are, 
moreover,  somewhat  intricate,  and  require  considerable 
practice  before  they  can  be  done  expertly. 

The  French  method  is  usually  followed  in  English 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


35 


faience-painting.  It  is  performed  by  laying  a  wash  of 
color  mixed  with  medium  as  flat  as  possible  with  a 
broad  brush  ;  then  the  whole  surface  of  the  tint  is  gone 
over  with  a  flattish,  stumpy  brush,  called  by  English 
china-painters,  a  "  dabbler;"  by  the  French,  "Putois." 

The  process  is  simple,  and  requires  only  care,  and 
steadiness  of  manipulation. 

The  tile,  plaque,  or  ornament,  is  washed  over  with 
the  color  required  as  evenly  and  quickly  as  possible  ; 
then,  before  it  begins  to  dry,  the  "  dabbler "  (which 
must  be  perfectly  clean  and  dry)  is  rapidly  and  lightly 
passed  over  the  whole  surface  by  a  dabbing,  stippling 
motion,  until  it  presents  a  uniform  smoothness  and 
evenness  of  tint.  It  is  evident  this  method  of  laying  a 
tint  is  very  useful,  not  only  for  grounds  in  conventional 
designs,  but  also  for  skies,  the  laying-in  of  landscape 
masses,  and  for  any  clear,  even,  or  graduated  tone  in 
flesh  or  drapery. 

Various  degrees  of  softness  and  smoothness  can  be 
attained  by  varying  the  consistency  of  the  color  em- 
ployed, and  also  by  continuing  the  dabbing  process 
until  the  color  is  quite  dry;  in  which  case,  if  done 
carefully,  it  becomes  very  fine  and  smooth  in  surface. 

It  is  well  to  bestow  extra  care  on  the  mixture  of  the 
color  with  the  fat,  oil,  and  turpentine;  so  that  it  will 
flow  easily  over  the  surface  of  the  tile  or  ornament,  and 
not  dry  too  quickly. 


36 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


It  materially  assists  the  flatness  of  a  tint  on  a  large 
surface,  if  a  few  drops  of  oil  of  aniseed  are  mixed  with 
the  color. 

PAINTING  OVER  THE  GLAZE. 
In  painting  on  china,  earthen  ware,  and  all  "over- 
glaze"  ware  with  enamel  colors,  the  procedure  is  as 
follows :  — 

The  design,  of  whatever  kind,  —  whether  heads,  land- 
scape, flowers,  or  conventional  ornament,  —  must  be 
sketched  carefully,  on  the  piece  to  be  decorated,  with 
Indian-ink  and  a  fine  brush.  This  or  any  other  vege- 
table water-color  may  be  used;  or  the  design  may  be 
traced,  and  transferred  to  the  ware  by  means  of  a  piece 
of  red  transfer-paper,  or  other  similar  mechanical  con- 
trivance. If  tracing  is  resorted  to,  it  must  be  done 
in  the  following  manner:  Make  a  very  accurate  and 
careful  tracing  of  the  design  on  tracing-paper  with  a 
hard  lead-pencil.  Place  the  transfer-paper1  between 
this  tracing  and  the  tile  or  plate,  and  go  over  each  line 
with  a  transfer-point,  —  of  metal,  ivory,  or  agate,  or  hard 
wood.  When  completed,  and  the  paper  lifted  up,  there 
will  be  found  on  the  tile  a  red  or  other  outline,  which 
need  not  be  removed  when  done  with,  as  it  will  com- 
pletely disappear  in  the  firing.  Let  it  be  carefully  noted 
that  no  traced  outline  is  so  good  as  to  do  away  with  the 
necessity  of  drawing  the  whole  design  afresh  in  the  color. 

1  Same  as  impression  paper. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


37 


Another  plan,  often  made  use  of,  is  that  of  pricking 
small  holes  through  the  tracing-paper  wherever  there  is 
a  pencil-mark :  this  can  be  done  with  a  pin  or  a  needle 
on  a  green  baize  table-cover,  or  any  other  soft  thing 
underlying  it. 

When  finished,  keep  the  tracing  thus  treated  closely 
pressed  on  to  the  tile,  and  rub  some  finely  powdered 
black  chalk  or  charcoal  all  over  it  with  a  lump  of  cotton- 
wool, or  a  roll  of  flannel  or  fine  cloth.  The  powder 
passes  through  the  small  holes  in  the  tracing-paper, 
and  leaves  a  dotted  outline  of  the  design  clearly  visible 
on  the  surface  of  the  ware  when  the  tracing-paper  is 
removed.  This  frail  outline  can  be  made  more  definite 
and  fixed  by  the  Indian-ink  outline,  or  by  one  of  color. 

The  artist  who  can  draw  with  facility  will  have  no 
need  of  such  mechanical  contrivances,  but  will  sketch 
the  subject  at  once  in  the  Indian-ink. 

When  this  is  dry,  the  painting  may  be  begun. 
Amateur  painters  will  feel  some  difficulties,  no  doubt,  at 
the  outset :  it  is  therefore,  perhaps,  necessary  to  go  a 
littlo  into  detail,  at  the  risk  of  being  tedious. 

The  first  great  care  — and  this  ought  to  be  printed  in 
Italics  —  must  be  to  see  that  the  color  is  thoroughly 
ground  on  the  slab  with  a  glass  muller  (unless  the 
artist  use  the  French  tube-colors,  which  are  ready 
mixed  and  prepared)  until  every  trace  of  grit  has  dis- 
appeared.   A  small  quantity  of  oil  of  turpentine  or 


33 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


water  may  be  used  in  this  grinding.  If  water  is  em- 
ployed, it  must  be  done  some  hours  previous  to  the 
painting  being  done,  in  order  that  the  color  may  be 
perfectly  dry,  or  it  will  not  mix  with  the  oil. 

Then  mix  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  required  color 
upon  the  palette,  and  add  enough  turpentine  and  fat  oil, 
or  other  medium,  to  render  it  of  proper  consistency. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  those  artists  who  are  painting 
for  the  first  time  on  china  find  a  difficulty  in  their  way. 
And  it  is  really  not  easy  to  explain  in  words  the  exact 
quantity  of  medium  necessary ;  and,  after  the  most  elab- 
orate explanations,  it  can  only  be  learnt  by  experience. 

However,  some  hints  may  be  useful,  as  some  simple 
tests  may  be  applied  to  save  the  bad  consequences, 
which  are  sometimes  irremediable  after  the  piece  is 
fired. 

Therefore  notice,  if,  after  the  color  has  been  laid  on, 
it  dries  very  slowly,  and  presents  a  very  shiny  appear- 
ance, or  shows  a  tendency  to  flow  over  the  outline  :  if 
so,  the  artist  may  feel  sure  that  too  much  of  the 
thickened  turpentine,  or  "fat  "  as  it  is  called,  has  been 
added  to  his  colon  Should  the  piece  be  sent  to  the 
kiln  in  that  condition,  the  probable  consequence  would 
be,  that  the  color  would  "boil  up,"  as  it  is  commonly 
described,  and  present,  instead  of  a  smooth,  glassy  sur- 
face, a  series  of  rough  bubbles  or  excrescences,  which 
would  require  to  be  scraped  off,  and  necessitate  the 
repainting  of  the  design,  at  least  in  part. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


39 


If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  color  as  mixed  on  the 
palette  is  difficult  to  lay  on  smoothly,  dries  very  quickly, 
and  looks  dull  and  rough  afterwards,  it  shows  that  too 
small  a  quantity  of  "  fat "  in  the  medium  has  been 
used  :  and  although  the  consequences  of  this  error,  so 
far  as  the  firing  is  concerned,  are  not  serious,  yet  it  will 
be  almost  impossible  to  get  the  painting  into  a  good 
state  for  finish ;  for  the  color  of  the  second  painting, 
coming  over  this  unkindly  surface,  is  likely  to  remove 
some  of  it,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  prove  stubborn,  and  look 
rough  and  uneven. 

Now,  when  the  color  is  proved  to  be  of  the  proper 
consistency,  the  brush  must  be  well  and  evenly  charged 
with  it,  and  passed  over  the  surface  of  the  piece  broad- 
ly and  quickly,  keeping  the  hairs  spread,  and  in  a  flat 
position  as  much  as  possible. 

When  the  first  wash  of  color  has  been  laid  over  the 
design,  it  must  be  left  until  quite  dry,  before  any 
attempt  is  made  to  shade  it,  or  deepen  the  tint  in  any 
way. 

Should  the  first  wash  of  color  not  appear  sufficiently 
smooth  or  even,  however,  the  brush  may  be  freed  from 
color,  and  passed  gently  and  quickly  over  the  whole 
surface  while  still  quite  wet,  for  the  purpose  of  smooth- 
ing out  the  ridges  or  wrinkles  of  color  which  the  edges 
of  the  brush  may  have  left  on  it. 

As  soon  as  this  first  tint  is  perfectly  dry,  another 


4° 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


may  be  laid  on  it,  and  again  left  to  dry  ;  and,  when  the 
design  has  been  in  this  way  completed  in  its  various 
stages  of  shading  toward  finish,  an  even  outline  may 
be  added  throughout  the  whole  painting,  usually  of  a 
shade  of  color  darker  than  the  average  tint  of  the 
design.  This  outline  gives  definition  and  vigor  to  the 
painting,  and  gives  a  certain  relief  to  it.  A  long-haired 
brush,  called  an  "outliner,"  is  used  for  this  purpose. 

If  a  tinted  ground  is  required  to  any  floral,  conven- 
tional, or  other  design,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  it  may 
be  laid  in  the  manner  prescribed  previously,  by  the 
process  of  dabbing,  after  the  design  has  been  sketched 
in  with  India-ink.  But  as  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
avoid  dabbing  over  a  part  of  the  design,  or,  indeed, 
sometimes  over  most  of  it,  should  it  be  at  all  intricate 
or  closely  filled  in,  it  is  wise  to  make  the  ink  outline 
very  clear  and  distinct.  If  this  is  attended  to,  the  dark 
outline  can  be  distinguished  with  sufficient  clearness 
through  the  dabbed  ground,  even  when  quite  dry. 
When  this  is  the  case,  the  superfluous  color  can  be 
carefully  scraped  off  with  a  penknife,  thus  leaving  the 
ground-tint  only  where  it  is  required,  while  the  design 
is  simply  the  clear  white  of  the  tile,  or  color  of  the 
body  of  the  ware,  ready  for  painting. 

It  stands  to  reason,  that,  if  the  outline  has  been 
pounced  through  the  tracing-paper,  it  must  be  gone 
over  with    the  strong  Indian-ink  outline  before  the 

- 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


41 


grounding  process  commences,  otherwise  it  would  be 
completely  lost  in  the  dabbing. 

All  these  difficulties  could  best  be  met,  in  the  case  of 
a  beginner,  by  practice  with  one  color,  such  as  com- 
mon red  :  it  is  a  very  easy  color  to  lay  on  the  ware, 
and  is,  on  this  account,  a  good  pigment  for  the  purpose. 

A  six-inch  tile  may  be  used  :  on  this  sketch  a  design, 
or  a  spray  of  foliage  ;  then  attend  carefully  to  the 
points  already  mentioned,  such  as  the  grinding  and 
mixing  of  color,  and  lay  on  a  pale  tint  over  every  part  of 
the  design  •  allow  it  to  dry,  and  then  put  in  the  shadows 
broadly,  with  a  deeper  tint  of  the  red,  remembering 
to  hold  the  brush  so  that  it  works  into  a  flat  position, 
to  avoid  ridgy  lines  and  brush-marks.  When  this  is 
dry,  the  finish  may  be  added  with  the  outline,  and  the 
tile  may  be  laid  aside  in  some  spot  free  from  dust,  to 
dry  thoroughly  before  it  is  sent  to  the  kiln.  Some 
practice  with  colors  not  to  be  fired  may  be  desirable. 

In  painting  flowers  and  foliage  on  china  or  earthen 
ware,  the  same  general  plan  has  to  be  observed.  For 
such  a  subject,  prepare  a  palette  with  a  small  quantity 
of  these  colors,  viz.,  orange,  green,  blue,  and  brown, 
and  commence  by  putting  in  the  lightest  tints  of  the 
leaves  first,  wherever  they  are  required  \  such  as  the 
gray-blue  of  a  shiny  leaf  when  seen  in  the  light,  or 
the  bright  warm  yellow  of  the  same  leaf  when  the  light 
passes  through  it.    Always  put  the  lightest  first.  Tone 


42 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


the  green  with  orange  for  a  yellowish  green,  and  with 
cobalt  if  a  colder  tone  of  green  is  required. 

It  is  best  not  to  go  over  the  whole  of  the  leaf  with 
this  lightest  color,  but  to  put  the  tints  down  clearly 
where  you  see  them  in  your  copy,  or  in  the  natural  leaf 
that  is  being  imitated,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  leaf  free 
for  whatever  color  it  possesses.  Care  must  be  taken  to 
avoid  making  a  ridge  or  a  strong  mark  where  the  dif- 
ferent tints  meet.  This  can  be  managed  by  no*  letting 
the  colors  quite  meet,  and  by  taking  care  that  they  are 
not  too  wet.  When  the  whole  surface  of  the  leaf  has 
been  covered  in  this  way,  it  must  be  left  to  dry. 

To  avoid  delay,  a  clean  palette  may  be  taken,  and 
"set"  for  the  flowers,  and  the  first  or  lightest  wash  laid 
on  thinly  in  the  usual  manner.  For  the  highest  shining 
lights  the  china  may  be  left  clear,  the  color  being,  of 
course,  softened  to  nothing  as  it  approaches  the  light, 
unless  the  petals  are  very  shining.  It  is,  perhaps,  less 
difficult  to  paint  them  all  over  with  the  palest  tint,  and 
finally,  when  the  color  is  quite  dry,  to  take  out  the  high 
lights  with  a  penknife. 

While  the  first  wash  on  the  flowers  is  drying,  the 
artist  may  return  to  the  leaves,  which,  if  quite  dry,  are 
now  ready  for  shading. 

The  proper  shades  of  brown,  olive-green,  &c,  for 
this  purpose,  may  be  easily  obtained  by  judiciously 
mixing  the  necessary  colors  \  for  instance,  deep  olive- 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


43 


green  can  be  made  by  mixing  green,  orange,  brown, 
and  red. 

Grays  of  different  shades  are  made  by  brown  and 
blue ;  or  brown,  blue,  and  green  ;  or  brown,  blue, 
green,  and  pink.    Put  these  on  in  very  faint  washes. 

For  the  serrations  of  the  leaves,  the  stems,  and 
general  finishing,  purple-brown  is  in  many  cases  very 
useful.  It  also  serves  as  an  excellent  outlining:  color, 
either  alone  or  mixed  with  common  brown. 

In  painting  birds,  which  are  frequently  added  to  the 
semi-naturalistic  treatment  of  faience  in  the  present 
day,  to  give  interest  to  the  composition,  it  is  well,  after 
the  sketch  in  Indian-ink  has  been  finished,  to  draw  in 
the  bill,  eye,  wings,  and  feet  with  care,  with  black, 
brown,  and  gray.  The  washes  of  color  most  resem- 
bling the  natural  mass  of  tints  may  then  be  laid  in,  and 
left  to  dry  perfectly,  before  the  details  of  the  plumage 
are  put  in,  and  the  finishing  touches  added. 

The  same  advice  applies  to  butterflies,  which  are 
useful  as  bringing  points  of  strong  color  into  a  design, 
when  this  is  done  with  judgment  and  taste.  These 
require  but  few  colors,  and  are3  for  the  most  part, 
quickly  observed  and  painted. 

In  painting  a  head,  commence,  as  usual,  by  the 
careful  outline  in  Indian-ink.  Let  every  detail  be 
thoroughly  drawn  in  this  material  before  beginning  the 
enamel  color. 


44 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


Allow  of  no  appearance  of  carelessness  or  erasure, 
or  uncertainty  in  form,  to  make  itself  visible  in  this 
stage,  as  all  such  imperfection  runs  great  risk  of  being 
much  increased  in  the  final  drawing. 

If  the  head  be  on  a  round  plaque  or  plate,  and  it  is 
thought  useful  to  have  a  background,  it  is  best  to  lay  it 
in  at  once,  before  beginning  to  color  the  face.  The 
arrangement,  color,  and  design  of  this  background,  is, 
of  course,  dependent  on  the  taste  of  the  painter.  In 
general,  drapery  or  foliage  may  be  used  with  good 
effect ;  or  it  may  be  simply  grounded  with  some  color 
that  will  either  harmonize  or  contrast  with  the  prevail- 
ing tones  and  style  of  the  head  ;  or  some  diapered,  or 
tapestry  design  may  be  worked  over  it  in  self-tones  or 
in  contrasting  ones. 

In  all  cases  remember  that  a  background  is  a  thing 
to  be  behind  the  head,  and  should,  therefore,  be  clearly 
a  secondary  feature  in  the  picture.  Detail,  however 
neatly  drawn,  should  be  sacrificed  to  this  great  neces- 
sity. Another  point  is,  that  the  background  should, 
for  decorative  effect,  be  either  darker  or  lighter  than 
the  head-tone,  so  that  the  head  detaches  well,  and  does 
not  "  swim  "  in  the  background. 

The  colors  used  for  the  face  are  pale  tones  of  yellow 
for  the  lights  and  lightest  parts,  flesh-red  and  yellow- 
brown  for  stronger  local  color,  with  more  flesh-red  for 
the  cheeks. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION.  45 

As  before,  proceed  by  laying  in  large  washes  of 
color  •  and,  when  these  are  dry,  the  shadows  can  be 
deepened,  and  the  middle  or  half  tones  properly  gradu- 
ated, and  the  whole  harmonized.  Here,  again,  purple- 
brown  may  be  used  with  good  results  in  drawing  the 
lips  and  nostril  over  the  tones  of  red  that  have  been 
used  for  them. 

The  hair  may  be  laid  in  broadly  with  the  required 
color,  and  a  softener  or  dabber  used  whenever  re- 
quired. 

Remember  that  flat  tints,  made  so  at  once  in  the  first 
wash,  are  to  be  preferred  to  those  rendered  artificially 
flat  by  stippling. 

Drapery,  also,  must  be  painted  broadly  and  simply  : 
the  lights  are,  perhaps,  the  best  to  begin  with,  then  the 
local  color,  then  the  deep  half-tone  and  the  shadow. 

Be  quite  sure  that  the  shadow  of  a  colored  drapery 
is  not  the  deepening  of  the  local  color  •  that,  for 
instance,  blue  drapery  in  folds  is  simply  graduated 
blue  :  it  is  not,  but  is  a  color  that  constantly  changes 
towards  a  neutral  value  of  blue,  frequently  towards 
brown,  and,  it  may  be,  to  violet. 

Skies  are,  of  course,  laid  in  on  the  same  general 
principles  as  those  above  mentioned.  Be  careful  not 
to  make  the  grays  too  cold,  as  there  is  sometimes  a 
tendency  in  them  to  darken,  and  turn  towards  a  green 
tint,  in  firing,  that  is  disagreeable. 


46 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


Blue,  brown,  and  pink,  mixed  in  varying  proportions, 
produce  grays.  Be  careful  of  the  edges  of  clouds,  to 
see  that  they  are  well  drawn,  and  not  too  hard  ;  and 
use  a  flat  brush,  with  but  little  color  in  it,  to  improve 
these  edges.  A  little  green  with  the  blue  will  give  the 
steady  look  of  Nature's  blue  sky,  and  remove  the 
porcelain  effect  of  the  cobalt  alone.  All  these  works, 
painted  in  enamel  on  or  over  the  glaze,  may  be  fired 
more  than  once  ;  and  indeed,  in  the  finer  kind  of  soft 
enamel-work,  twelve  firings  are  not  uncommon.  But, 
although  a  second  and  even  a  third  firing  may  be 
useful,  there  are  risks  of  the  fading  of  colors  from 
repeated  fires,  that  render  it  undesirable  that  that  num- 
ber should  be  exceeded. 

Still  it  gives  the  artist  confidence  to  remember  that 
the  second  painting  will  take  the  finish,  and  he  may, 
therefore,  with  confidence  lay  in  large  washes  of  all  his 
tones  for  harmonious  working  together  in  his  second 
or  even  third  painting  and  firing. 

The  artist  wilf  not  feel  any  great  difficulty  in  the 
unlikeness  of  the  pigment  when  it  is  put  on  the  ware  to 
the  color  it  will  develop  into  in  the  kiln,  as,  with  the 
exception  of  cobalt  and  pink,  the  colors  appear  very 
much  the  same  on  the  palette  and  on  the  ware  when 
fired. 

A  final  caution  is  necessary  to  those  who  have  had 
but  little  experience  in  this  work  :  it  is  to  see  that  the 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


47 


pigment  is  put  on  to  the  ware  in  proper  quantities  from 
the  brush.  A  line  or  tint  may  seem  well  covered,  and 
yet  burn  away  in  the  kiln,  if  it  is  not  laid  in  with  suf- 
ficient pigment  to  resist  the  heat  :  another  tint  may 
scarcely  look  darker  on  the  ware,  and  yet  come  from 
the  kiln  opaque  and  h^avy,  from  having  been  over- 
loaded with  pigment. 

The  above  directions  may  also  be  followed,  if  water 
with  a  little  gum  is  used  as  the  medium,  instead  of  tur- 
pentine. 

PAINTING  ON  THE  "BISCUIT,"  OR  UNDER  THE 
GLAZE. 

The  term  "biscuit,"  as  has  been  before  explained,  is 
applied  to  the  ware  in  its  unglazed  condition.  There 
are  as  many  varieties  of  "  biscuit  "  as  of  pottery-ware ; 
and  they  vary  in  texture,  smoothness  of  surface,  and 
powers  of  absorption,  almost  infinitely.  In  fact,  all 
ware  that  is  glazed  by  a  second  operation  is  at  one 
stage  of  its  manufacture  in  a  state  of  biscuit.  The  art 
of  coloring  upon  this  ware  is  somewhat  different  from 
that  of  over-glaze  ware.  The  colors  are  harder,  not  in 
themselves  glossy,  but  take  their  full  development  from 
the  glaze  that  is  placed  over  them,  which  gives  them 
softness  and  transparency,  and  a  mellowness  that  is 
not  reached  by  any  over-glaze  colors  at  present  in  use. 

The  biscuit  is  of  dull,  porous  surface,  of  any  color 


48 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


that  the  clay  of  which  it  is  made  will  develop  in  the 
kiln,  and  may  be  any  thing  from  white  to  black. 

It  takes  the  mark  of  a  lead-pencil  or  a  piece  of  char- 
coal easily,  and  is  not  unlike  fine  drawing-paper  to 
work  on. 

Here,  too,  either  water  or  oil  may  be  used  as  a 
medium.  If  oil  is  selected  (and  it  is  the  more  useful), 
then  the  ware  must  be  sponged  over  with  some  material 
that  will  render  it  less  porous,  and  give  a  more  con- 
venient texture  for  the  brush  to  work  on :  it  also 
renders  it  smooth  and  soft  by  removing  the  harshness 
of  the  dull,  raw,  absorbent  surface. 

This  is  effected  by  rubbing  the  surface  of  the  ware 
with  ordinary  size  or  treacle  (golden  sirup),  or  a  so- 
lution of  gum-tragacanth. 

If,  however,  water  is  used  as  a  diluent  for  the  colors, 
then  it  is  not  necessary  to  stop  the  absorption  of  the 
piece  ;  but  some  of  the  size  or  gum-arabic  must  be 
mixed  with  the  color  on  the  palette  instead. 

When  turpentine  or  tar  is  used  as  a  diluent,  the 
"fat"  oil  is  employed  as  a  medium,  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  in  painting  over-glaze  on  earthenware  or  china. 
It  will  be  found,  in  general,  that  a  larger  quantity  of  fat 
oil  will  be  necessary  with  the  under-glaze  colors  to 
make  them  work  smoothly  and  easily.  As  there  is  not 
the  same  danger  of  "  boiling  up  "  to  guard  against  in 
this  case  as  in  over-glaze  painting,  the  medium  may  be 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


49 


used  as  freely  as  is  desirable,  without  any  ill  effects 
resulting. 

The  directions  for  the  actual  application  of  the  color 
to  the  ware  that  have  been  already  given  in  the  enamel- 
painting  instructions  will  apply  equally  to  the  painting 
on  the  "  biscuit,"  and  therefore  need  not  be  repeated 
here. 

Dabbing,  however,  cannot  be  resorted  to  with  the 
same  ease,  as  the  color  is  apt  to  dry  before  it  has  been 
wrought  into  smoothness.  To  render  this  difficulty 
less  embarrassing,  care  must  be  taken,  in  the  first  place, 
to  have  the  ware  well  sized  ;  in  the  second,  mix  plenty 
of  fat  oil  with  the  color,  lay  it  on  rapidly,  and  use  the 
dabber  very  quickly  over  the  whole  of  the  colored  sur- 
face. It  is  an  advantage  to  use  rather  a  stiffer  dabber 
than  for  over-glaze.  Grounds  may  be  moderately  well 
laid  with  a  large  brush,  without  the  dabbing  process  at 
all  :  it  is  only  necessary  that  the  color  should  be  well 
mixed,  and  have  sufficient  fat  oil  to  render  it  easy  of 
application,  and  to  allow  it  to  run  together  slightly. 

Great  care  must  always  be  taken,  in  painting  on  the 
biscuit,  to  prevent  any  color  spreading  too  far,  as  it  is 
very  difficult  to  efface  any  color-marks  from  the  ware 
in  this  condition.  A  tint  that  is  found  to  be  too  dark 
may  be  lightened  by  rubbing  off  the  surface-color  with 
a  rag  or  sponge  moistened  with  turpentine  ;  but  the 
ware  can  never  be  thoroughly  freed  from  color  when 
once  worked  over. 


5° 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


In  painting  flowers  on  the  biscuit,  or  under  the  glaze, 
the  beginner  will  experience  a  considerable  amount  of 
difficulty  from  the  fact  that  most  of  the  colors  used  for 
this  wrork  do  not  bear  the  least  resemblance  to  the  tints 
they  represent  before  firing. 

For  instance,  a  deep-blue,  such  as  cobalt,  appears,  in 
its  state  of  powder,  a  brownish  gray ;  a  turquoise-blue 
resembles  slate-color ;  and  so  on  :  thus  the  artist  must 
rely  on  his  knowledge  of  the  pigments,  and  draw  a  little 
on  his  imagination,  in  order  to  realize,  and  then  carry 
out,  his  ideas  respecting  the  colors  and  grays  of  his 
flowers.  It  is  well  to  keep  the  pots  or  packets  of  color 
distinctly  marked,  and  also  note  what  colors  are  on  the 
palette. 

In  general,  the  tint  of  the  ware  to  be  painted  on  is 
lower  than  white  in  tint,  usually  of  a  warm  gray,  and 
deep  enough  in  tone  to  cause  opaque  white  enamel  to 
appear  in  bright  relief  upon  it.  This  white  enamel 
bears  the  same  relation  to  enamel-painting  that  opaque- 
white  does  to  a  water-color  drawing.  It  requires  to  be 
put  on  thickly,  so  that  it  stands  up  on  the  surface  of 
the  ware,  or  has  an  impasto,  to  use  an  artistic  term. 
Care  must  be  taken  not  to  render  it  too  liquid,  or  satu- 
rate it  too  much  with  the  fat  oil,  as,  under  such  condi- 
tions, it  may  run  down  the  surface  of  the  ware,  and  blur 
or  destroy  the  outline. 

It  is  used  for  high  lights,  and  must  be  applied  care- 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION.  51 

fully  and  thickly.  In  order  to  do  this,  have  the  color 
on  a  clean  palette,  thoroughly  mixed ;  add  a  little  fat  oil 
to  make  the  mass  smooth,  but  not  enough  to  render  it 
liquid.  Take  a  clean,  dry  brush,  and  dip  only  the  tip  of 
it  into  the  mixture,  taking  up  a  small  piece  at  a  time, 
which  transfer  quickly  on  to  the  part  requiring  it. 
Never  allow  the  brush  to  get  soaked  with  the  enamel, 
which  clogs  it,  and  prevents  its  working  smoothly  and 
finely. 

The  green  that  is  made  of  claret-brown,  common 
brown,  and  black,  must  be  put  on  rather  thickly,  as  it 
fires  out  to  a  great  extent. 

A  fine  olive-green  is  made  with  green,  orange,  and 
claret-brown  ;  a  purple,  with  two  parts  of  manganese- 
brown,  and  one  of  cobalt. 

As  the  mode  of  painting  flowers  on  the  biscuit  differs 
very  little  from  that  in  use  for  their  application  to  china 
or  earthenware,  a  repetition  of  the  methods  need  not  be 
made.  Any  errors  in  the  laying-on  of  the  color  bring 
about  similar  results  in  both  cases.  If  the  colors  are 
put  on  too  thinly,  they  fire  out ;  if  too  thickly,  they  will 
not  take  the  glaze,  and  look  dull  in  consequence  :  some- 
times they  will  even  blister,  and  they  are  always  heavy 
and  dry. 

In  painting  heads  on  the  biscuit,  it  is  well  to  remem- 
ber how  important  it  is  to  have  an  accurate  drawing, 
which  may  be  made  with  pencil  or  charcoal,  or  with 
lithographic  chalk,  on  the  tile  or  plaque. 


52  CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 

The  background  is  next  to  be  laid  on  as  far  as  possi- 
ble. No  definite  directions  can  be  given  as  to  style 
and  color  of  the  background  ;  for  it  depends  on  the 
artist's  feeling  and  taste.  It  may,  of  course,  be  a  sky 
of  any  tint,  distant  landscape,  foliage,  or  drapery,  or 
any  thing  else  ;  and  may  be  a  simple  flat  wash  of  color, 
or  an  evenly  graduated  tint  of  two  colors.  The  points 
to  be  aimed  at  are  such  a  harmony  of  color  as  may 
agreeably  assist  the  color  of  the  head. 

The  flat  tints  already  noted  may  be  used  for  these 
background  tones,  such  as  the  turquoise-blue  flat  tint, 
which,  with  a  darker  pattern  of  dark-blue  running  over 
it,  would  contrast  with  a  strongly-painted  head. 

The  olive-green  above  mentioned  may  be  very  effec- 
tually used,  also  the  purple,  made  with  manganese  and 
cobalt. 

When  this  is  laid  in,  wash  in  the  large  tints  of  the 
hair  and  drapery  broadly  and  quickly,  and  then  leave 
them  to  dry. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  biscuit,  when  dipped  in 
glaze,  and  fired  successfully,  comes  from  the  kiln  a 
piece  of  glazed  ware,  which  can  be  used  as  a  basis  of 
a  complete  system  of  over-glaze  or  enamel-coloring 
afterwards.  This  gives  the  artist  a  double  chance  of 
obtaining  his  ends  ;  as  the  softness  of  the  under-glaze 
effects  is  secured  by  the  first  firing,  while  the  colors  not 
applicable  to  this  system  are  applied  afterwards  over 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


53 


the  glaze,  always,  however,  with  a  certain  loss  of  bril- 
liancy and  clearness  in  the  glaze  and  colors. 

In  working  at  the  face,  two  different  plans  have  been 
adopted.  Some  painters  on  the  biscuit  find  it  best  to 
put  in  only  the  shadows  of  the  face  for  the  first  firing, 
reserving  the  flesh-tints  for  the  second  painting  with 
enamel  or  over-glaze  colors,  of  which  there  is  a  great 
and  almost  perplexing  variety.  Others  put  in  not  only 
the  shadow,  but  also  the  flesh-color  at  once,  modelling 
them  with  darker  tones,  and  dabbing  or  stippling  them 
together  while  they  are  wet,  until  the  proper  forms  have 
been  developed. 

Heads  painted  on  the  biscuit  almost  invariably  re- 
quire two  firings  at  least :  therefore  finishing  touches 
are  not  usually  or  necessarily  put  into  the  first  painting. 
It  is  always  well,  however,  to  do  as  much  as  possible 
for  the  first  firing,  in  order  to  preserve  the  general  tone 
and  quality  of  the  piece. 

The  second  painting,  being  done  with  over-glaze  or 
enamel-colors,  is  fired  at  a  lower  temperature  than  the 
glaze  :  it  often  has  the  disadvantage  of  dimming  the 
lustre  of  the  first  glaze  a  little,  as  has  already  been 
remarked. 

For  under-glaze  work,  the  shadows  and  general  model- 
ling of  the  face  may  be  of  manganese-brown,  which 
fires  to  a  warm,  reddish  tint :  it  is  very  easy  of  manipu- 
lation, "  lays  "  itself  flatly,  and  is  graduated  to  a  soft- 


54 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


ened,  imperceptible  edge  without  difficulty.  It  may  be 
laid  in  strongly,  as  somewhat  is  lost  in  firing. 

An  under-glaze  flesh-tint  may  be  made  of  claret- 
brown  ;  and  the  same,  mixed  with  common  brown  for 
shadows,  may  be  used  with  good  effect.  It  must,  how- 
ever, not  be  put  on  strongly,  or  the  face  will  appear  too 
red. 

Always  outline  a  head  clearly  and  strongly  for  the 
first  firing.  Great  care  is  here  necessary,  as  the  draw- 
ing of  the  head  depends  on  this  part  of  the  work,  —  in 
every  part  of  each  curve  and  line  being  well  formed : 
every  detail  of  the  features  may  also  be  outlined,  but 
less  strongly.  Common  brown  or  manganese-brown 
will  serve  for  this  part  of  the  work. 

If  the  outline  fires  out  at  all  seriously  in  the  under- 
glaze  kiln,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  it  must  be  re-applied 
of  the  same  tint  in  enamel-color. 

Gilding  has  already  been  mentioned :  it  is  always 
applied  over  the  glaze. 

The  foregoing  remarks  on  under-glaze  and  enamel- 
painting  apply,  as  to  the  processes  and  the  colors 
named,  to  earthenware  principally ;  for  the  china  body 
is  not  only  in  itself  harder  than  earthenware,  but  has  a 
harder  glaze,  with  which  many  enamel-colors  have  so 
little  in  common  as  to  almost  fail  to  adhere,  and  cer- 
tainly frequently  are  found  to  look  far  from  rich  and 
glossy. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION.  55. 
LINING. 

Plates,  vases,  cups,  and  many  other  things,  require  to 
be  finished  off  with  lines  around  their  edges  or  their 
mouldings,  or  between  any  divisions  of  their  forms.  It 
is  done  upon  a  whirler  or  table-wheel,  something  like  a 
potter's  wheel,  which  is  a  round  slab  moving  freely  on 
a  pivot.  The  plate  or  vase  is  placed  exactly  in  the 
centre  of  the  horizontal  circular  slab.  The  operator 
then,  with  his  right  arm  leaning  upon  the  wooden  rest 
at  his  painting-desk,  to  insure  perfect  steadiness,  applies, 
a  brush  charged  with  the  required  color  to  the  edge  of 
the  piece  to  be  decorated,  slowly  moving  the  wheel  with 
the  piece  on  it  with  his  other  hand.  By  this  simple 
means,  a  line  of  any  fineness  or  breadth  can  be  made. 

FIRING. 

A  few  words  about  kilns  may  be  interesting. 

With  the  kilns  of  the  potter  we  have  nothing  to  do, 
more  than  to  remark  that  they  are  of  every  shape  and 
inclination  with  the  ground,  from  vertical  to  horizontal  ; 
that  they  are  of  all  sizes,  from  three  or  four  feet  in 
diameter  to  twenty-four ;  that  they  are  being  varied  in 
construction  every  day  by  skilful  potters,  to  obtain 
better  results  for  the  fuel  they  consume. 

The  pottery-painter  receives  his  biscuit  or  glazed 
ware,  in  more  or  less  perfect  condition,  from  these  kilns. 


56  CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION, 

With  those  in  which  his  work  is  fired  he  has  more  con- 
cern. 

They  are  all  on  one  principle.  A  fireclay  box  is  con- 
structed :  the  fire  is  made  underneath  or  at  the  side, 
and  has  flues,  by  which  the  heat  circulates  around  the 
box  until  the  required  heat  has  been  reached.  The 
principle  to  be  observed  is,  that  the  fire  has  no  sort  of 
direct  impact  on  the  painted  ware :  on  the  contrary,  a 
crack  in  the  kiln  is  often  very  destructive,  as  it  allows 
sulphur  from  the  fuel  to  find  access,  to  the  serious 
damage  of  the  colors,  which  are  blackened  by  it. 

These  fireclay  boxes  may  be  of  one  piece,  such  as 
the  little  kilns  that  dentists  use  for  fixing  the  coloring 
of  artificial  porcelain  teeth,  or  may  be  built  up  elabo- 
rately, so  as  to  be  twelve  feet  deep  and  six  or  eight 
high.  In  all  these  cases,  the  fire  is  kept  carefully  from 
the  contents  of  the  muffle,  as  it  is  called  ;  and  the  heat 
of  the  fuel  is  communicated  to  the  ware  through  the 
walls  of  the  inner  box,  so  that  the  whole  becomes  a 
glowing  mass  of  red  heat.  The  filling  of  the  kiln  is  a 
matter  with  which  the  professional  potter  is  more  par- 
ticularly concerned,  but  various  props  and  pillars  and 
slabs,  forming  floors  to  little  horizontal  divisions,  are 
used  and  built  up  inside  the  muffle  with  the  ware  to  be 
fired,  and  considerable  ingenuity  is  shown  in  the  close 
packing  necessary  in  these  kilns.  When  the  fire  is 
lighted,  the  heat  is  allowed  very  slowly  to  penetrate  the 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


57 


mass  of  fire-clay  of  the  muffle  and  its  contents  ;  and  it  is 
sometimes  not  allowed  to  attain  its  full  heat  for  a  whole 
clay,  and  even  more,  when  the  bulk  of  the  kiln  and  con- 
tents is  considerable.  The  door  of  the  kiln  is  either 
an  iron  plate,  inside  which  a  firebrick  wall  is  built,  or 
not,  according  to  the  size  of  the  kiln  :  through  this 
door  a  hole  is  made,  which  is  covered  with  a  lid  or  a 
stopper;  and  through  this  the  " tests"  are  drawn  from 
time  to  time.  Carmine  is  a  color  composed  of  gold 
and  tin  and  silver.  In  the  progress  of  the  development 
of  this  pigment  in  the  kiln,  from  its  raw  state  to  its 
full  beauty,  certain  changes  go  on  ;  for  at  the  beginning 
of  the  fire,  when  all  is  at  a  low  heat,  the  silver  predomi- 
nates, and  the  red  is  feeble  ;  a  dirty,  dark-yellow  tint 
being  the  prevailing  color.  At  the  proper  point,  the 
carmine  is  in  full  power  in  all  its  beauty.  With  an  over 
fire,  the  silver  is  destroyed  ;  and  the  result  is,  the  car- 
mine becomes  cold  in  color,  inclining  to  lilac  or  violet. 
This  is  the  reason  why  the  "  test  "  is  made  of  carmine. 
It  is  simply  applied.  Small  pieces  of  ware,  such  as  a 
broken  tile  or  plate,  are  painted  with  a  brushmark  of 
carmine,  and  have  a  piece  of  wire  twisted  around  them, 
so  that  they  can  be  easily  seized  with  a  hooked  rod. 
These  are  placed  in  different  parts  of  the  floor,  —  that 
is,  opposite  to  the  hole  in  the  door  that  has  been  men- 
tioned, —  and  are  brought  out  from  time  to  time  as  the 
kiln  approaches  its  full  fire,  until  it  is  seen  that  the 


Ej8  CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 

color  is  fully  developed.  When  this  is  the  case,  the 
fire  is  raked  out,  and  the  kiln  allowed  to  cool  slowly. 
Any  sudden  accession  of  cold  air  to  the  hot  pieces  is 
to  be  carefully  avoided,  as  it  has  the  effect  of  at  least 
causing  the  glaze  to  "  craze,"  that  is,  crack  all  over  in 
small  cracks.  This  is  due  to  the  different  textures  of 
the  body  and  the  glaze.  They  have  different  rates  of 
receiving  or  giving  out  heat :  so  all  must  go  on  slowly 
together,  to  keep  them  sound.  A  very  violent  admis- 
sion of  cold  to  any  hot  kiln  may  break  the  vessels  them- 
selves. 

The  firing  of  patterns  painted  on  the  biscuit,  or  under 
the  glaze,  is  somewhat  different  when  painted  in  oil : 
the  pieces  have  to  undergo  a  slight  firing  up  to  dull  red 
heat,  to  expel  the  oil,  and  dry  up  all  greasiness  from  the 
turpentine.  This  is  called  the  "  hardening  on  "  kiln, 
and  must  precede  the  dipping  of  the  pieces  in  the  glaze 
tub ;  for  as  the  glaze  is  mixed  with  water,  and  the  sur- 
face of  the  painted  ware  is  greasy,  no  contact  between 
the  two  would  be  possible,  until  the  greasiness  is  first 
burnt  out.  The  body  of  any  piece  must  be  more  or 
less  absorbent  when  it  is  dipped,  in  order  that  a  certain 
quantity  of  the  solid  part  of  the  mixture  should  adhere 
to  the  body  of  the  pot.  This  is  instantaneously  done 
by  the  absorption  of  water  from  the  mixture  which 
separates  from  the  glaze  closely  surrounding  the  piece 
in  the  tub,  and  which,  in  effect,  coats  the  vessel  with  a 
film  of  glaze  in  moist  powder. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


59 


REQUISITES. 
The  requirements  of  a  china-painter  are  not  very 
numerous.     A  table  of   convenient  size  and  height 
(from  two  to   four  feet   square  is  most  convenient), 
well  arranged  with  regard  to  light,  is  necessary.  The 


light  should  be  ample  and  high,  extending 
from  the  level  of  the  table  upwards.  It  is 
sometimes  more  convenient  to  work  with  the 
light  in  front,  sometimes  better  when  the  light 
comes  from  the  left  hand. 

The  rest  is  a  narrow  piece  of  wood  of  any 
convenient  length  (eighteen  inches  is,  perhaps, 
most  useful),  and  two  or  three  inches  wide, 
with  two  blocks  the  same  width  as  the  strip, 
and  two  or  three  inches  in  depth,  fixed,  one 
at  each  extremity.  This  is  simply  laid  on 
the  table,  and,  as  it  bridges  over  the  ware  that 
is  being  painted  on,  supports  the  wrist,  and  is 
convenient,  as  it  can  be  moved  to  any  position, 
and  over  any  part  of  the  piece  that  it  covers. 

The  rest  is  invaluable  for  steadying  the 


hand,  especially  in  outlining,  or  in  any  part  of  the 
work  where  even,  carefully-placed  lines  are  required. 
The  tile,  plate,  or  ornament  should  be  held  in  the 
left  hand,  just  underneath  the  level  of  the  rest,  so  that 
the  brush  may  come  down  steadily  upon  it,  guided  by 


6o 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION, 


the  right  hand,  which,  of  course,  is  perfectly  steady  on 
its  support. 

A  mahl,  or  maul-stick,  will  be  needed  when  painting 
on  large  tiles,  or  plaques,  that  may  be  used  for  wall 
decoration.  These  must  be  set  up  against  a  wooden 
support,  and  worked  at  in  the  same  manner  as  a  paint- 
ing on  canvas. 

In  decorating  large  vases,  also,  this  mahl-stick  will 
be  quite  necessary. 

A  glass  slab  for  grinding  the  colors  on.  This  is 
usually  made  of  thick  plate-glass  let  into  a  wooden 
frame,  and  bedded  with  plaster-of-Paris  to  a  true  and 
firm  basis.  It  is  thus  protected  from  chance  blows, 
and  is  perfectly  secure  against  any  uneven  pressure 
from  the  muller. 

Some  glass  mullers  for  grinding  the  color.  Three 
sizes  will  be  convenient.  The  smaller  ones  serve  for 
small  quantities  of  color.  These  will  not  be  necessary 
when  the  prepared  colors  are  used. 

Some  earthenware  palettes,  as  well  as  six-inch  tiles, 
for  the  color,  will  be  needed,  and  two  or  more  strong 
palette-knives. 

For  painting  in  water-color,  the  pigments  must  be 
used  in  the  form  of  powder,  ground  in  water  as  a 
medium,  with  a  drop  of  gum-arabic  added. 

Brushes  are  a  very  important  part  of  the  china- 
painter's  outfit.  He  will  require  several,  of  different 
sorts  and  sizes  :  — 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


61 


1.  A  fine-pointed  camel-hair,  for  sketching  or  out- 

lining the  design. 

2.  Two  or  three  good  brushes  of  different  medium 

sizes,  for  laying  in  the  first  washes  of  color, 

3.  Some  shaders. 

4.  Outline-brushes  of  different  sizes. 

5.  A  softener  of  badger-hair. 

6.  Dabbers,  for  laying  grounds,  skies,  and  all  large 

flat  tints. 

For  working  in 
water-color,  brushes 
made  of  red  or  black 
sable  are  the  best. 
For  working  in  oil, 
camel  or  marten  hair 
will  be  found  most 
suitable. 

It  is  very  desirable 
to  have  different  sets 
of  brushes  for  work- 
ing in  water  and 
in  oil  ;  for  although, 
by  thorough  washing 
in  warm  water  with 
soap,  a  brush  that 
has  been  used  in  turpentine  may  be  cleaned  from 
it,  and  so  be  made  serviceable  for  working  in  water,  it 


62 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


is  scarcely  ever  fit  to  be  used  again  for  painting  in  oil, 
as  the  hairs  become  dry  and  harsh,  and  seldom  work 
up  to  a  point  properly  after  this  process. 

A  table-wheel,  for  describing  circles  and  curves,  and 
for  lining  the  edges  of  plates,  rims  and  mouldings  of 
vases,  and  other  uses,  must  be  added  to  the  list  of 
requisites.  It  is  a  horizontal  circular  slab,  so  placed 
on  a  pointed  iron  rod  as  to  spin  or  whirl  easily  and 
truly  when  turned  with  the  hand.  It  stands  firmly  on 
a  framed  base  or  foot,  and  is  somewhat  solidly  con- 
structed, for  the  purpose  of  being  steady  while  in  use. 

Many  other  things  connected  with  pottery  could  be 
written  about;  but  the  limits  of  this  small  work  prevent 
even  an  allusion  to  them.  The  small  part  of  the  sub- 
ject that  has  been  here  considered  is  in  itself  so  interest- 
ing, that  it  is  difficult  not  to  attempt  to  enlarge  it  at  all 
sections  of  this  handbook,  until  it  should  be  a  work 
worthy  of  the  art  of  pottery ;  but  that  is  impossible. 

A  recent  writer1  says,  "  It  is  no  very  easy  thing  to 
make  intelligible  to  those  who  have  no  love  for  pottery, 
who  take  no  delight  in  curious  and  beautiful  pieces  of 
china  and  earthen  ware,  how  it  is  that  very  many  of 
their  fellow-mortals  —  not  altogether  despicable  persons 
—  are  possessed  of  an  enthusiastic  liking  for  these 
things." 

The  truth  is,  that  the  causes  of  the  prevailing  love  for 

1  Ludwig  Ritter. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


63 


old  china  lie  both  deep  and  wide.  To  the  antiquary,  to 
the  student  of  past  history,  there  is  this  attraction  in  the 
ceramic  art,  that  its  productions  more  perfectly  adapt 
themselves  to  the  fashion  of  thought,  to  the  fancies  and 
ideas  of  each  successive  generation  of  men,  than  those 
of  any  other  human  industry. 

Pottery  owes  nothing  of  its  beauty  or  its  serviceable- 
ness  to  its  material, — for  that  is  but  the  dust  beneath 
our  feet, — and  every  thing  to  the  hand  that  fashions  it, 
and  to  the  mind  that  directs  the  hand  ;  so  is  it  that  it 
comes  to  have  so  purely  human  an  interest :  it  is  a  bit 
of  man's  work,  with  no  adventitious  aid  whatever.  If 
the  form  is  beautiful,  or  quaint,  or  ugly,  or  common- 
place, it  is  that  the  plastic  clay  has  followed,  and  exactly 
reproduced,  the  conception  in  the  maker's  mind  :  it  is 
formless,  without  coherence,  and  all  but  colorless ;  it 
takes  the  form,  and  the  consistency,  and  the  color,  that 
are  ideal  with  the  man  who  transforms  the  gray  earth 
into  a  piece  of  pottery  ;  and,  when  he  has  done  this,  his 
handiwork  lasts  forever. 

Coins  rust  with  time  ;  statues  of  marble  and  bronze 
crumble,  or  are  corroded ;  inscriptions  are  obliterated  ; 
stone  walls  fall  to  the  earth ;  and  the  Pyramids  them- 
selves are  slowly  disappearing.  Every  monument  that 
mankind  have  thought  most  lasting  yields  to  time, 
except  the  work  of  the  potter. 

The  most  frail  of  man's  productions  is  yet  the  most 


64 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


permanent.  The  glorious  tints  on  the  majolica  ware 
are  still  as  bright  as  when  they  were  drawn  from  the 
kiln ;  while  the  pictures  of  Raphael  and  Leonardo, 
painted  in  the  same  generation,  are  already  fading. 
We  have  perfect  specimens  of  Greek  pottery  that  can- 
not be  of  a  later  date  than  a  thousand  years  before  the 
Christian  era.  Glazed  mural  tiles  have  been  discovered 
among  the  ruins  of  Babylonian  palaces,  still  bright 
enough  to  decorate  a  king's  chamber  •  and  in  the  cata- 
combs of  Egypt  are  found  glazed  figures  of  Ra,  the 
sun  god  of  Anubis,  and  of  the  sacred  Scarabaeus,  as 
pure  and  brilliant  in  color  as  the  latest  production  of 
Deck  or  Minton. 

While  this  permanence,  and  the  peculiar  plasticity  of 
its  material,  make  the  study  of  ancient  pottery  indis- 
pensable to  the  archaeologist,  and  interesting  to  every 
intelligent  person,  its  potentiality  for  extreme  beauty  of 
form  and  color  recommend  it  to  all  who  possess  any 
degree  whatever  of  aesthetic  appreciation. 

In  regard  to  form-beauty,  it  is  enough  to  mention 
the  exquisite  proportion  of  the  classical  vases,  am- 
phorae, and  cylices,  the  rich  and  various  shapes  of  early 
Ital  ian  wares,  and  the  more  learnedly  elaborated  forms 
of  the  pottery  of  the  Renaissance  period ;  and  of  color 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  precious  imperial  red  of 
ancient  China  vies  with  the  ruby  in  brilliancy  and 
depth  ;  the  blue  of  the  turquoise  is  exactly  repeated  on 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


65 


the  blue  crackle  ware  of  China ;  while  the  pink  and 
dark  blue  of  the  Rose  du  Barry  and  the  Bleu  de  Roi  of 
Sevres,  the  rare  Chinese  apple-green,  the  exquisite 
tints  on  the  ancient  wares  of  Persia  and  Japan,  are 
hardly  equalled  in  the  various  qualities  of  depth,  inten- 
sity, brilliancy,  and  tenderness,  by  any  colors  in  nature 
or  in  art. 

The  production  of  each  one  of  these  hues  is  a  past 
triumph  of  invention  and  of  applied  science ;  and  in 
the  history  of  pottery  is  bound  up  the  strong  human 
interest  furnished  by  the  lives  of  the  men  who  have 
advanced  the  art,  —  the  Delia  Robbias,  the  Palissys, 
and  the  Wedgwoods,  —  men  of  science,  artists,  invent- 
ors, and  endowed  with  the  care,  patience,  energy,  and 
devotion  of  true  genius. 

Such  being  the  attractions  afforded  by  the  study  of 
the  ceramic  art,  it  is  no  wonder  that  it  is  popular,  and 
that  its  popularity  increases  with  the  intelligence  of  the 
age. 

If  it  were  allowable  to  cite  names,  those  of  many 
foremost  statesmen  at  home  and  abroad,  of  many  great 
lawyers,  of  many  men  eminent  in  letters,  and  of  many 
of  our  first  artists,  might  be  given  as  lovers  and  stu- 
dents of  ancient  and  mediaeval  pottery.  Mr.  Gladstone 
at  least  may  be  quoted  among  the  list,  since  he  has  not 
scrupled  in  a  public  speech  to  avow  himself  a  keen 
amateur  of  fictile  ware :  the  right  honorable  gentleman 


66 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


indeed  is  well  known  to  be  an  enthusiastic  and  dis- 
criminating collector  of  the  wares  of  Wedgwood  and 
Northern  Italy. 

Whether  we  have  any  leaning  or  not  towards  the 
ceramic  art,  whether  we  really  care  for  it  or  do  not,  it 
is  the  fashion  to  know  something  about  old  pottery.  It 
has  got  to  be  a  mark  of  inculture  to  be  wholly  ignorant ; 
and  to  have  at  least  read  up  "  Marryat  "  or  "  Chaffers  " 
has  almost  become  part  of  a  liberal  education. 

We  here  present  our  readers  copies  of  forty  designs 
which  were  used  by  Josiah  Wedgwood  in  the  decora- 
tion of  porcelain. 

They  are  such  as  he  found  by  experience  to  be  the 
most  satisfactory. 

Many  of  them  were  taken  without  alteration  from 
Greek  vases  of  the  best  period. 

Others  are  modifications  of  Egyptian  forms. 

Some  were  designed  in  Italy  and  Germany,  and  sent 
to  him  to  be  used  in  the  decoration  of  special  orders.1 

No.  i. — The  vine  in  light  blue;  ground,  white; 
outer'border,  background,  and  curved  lines  in  brown. 

No.  2.  —  The  broad  band,  upon  which  is  painted 
the  forget-me-not,  is  a  light  buff ;  the  flowers,  natural 
color  of  deep  blue  ;  leaves,  stem,  and  narrow  bands, 
brown  ;  the  palm-branch,  light  green. 


1  For  other  designs  and  instruction,  see  Greek  Ornament  as  applied  to  Pot- 
tery Decoration,  which  may  be  had  from  the  publishers  of  this  book. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


67 


No.  3.  —  A  favorite  pattern,  varied  but  little  from 
the  Greek ;  the  outer  portion  being  the  astragal,  or 
bead-and-button  moulding,  the  inner  the  egg-and-dart, 
or  tongue  moulding,  —  all  black  except  the  egg,  which 
is  light  green. 

No.  4.  —  The  quatrefoil  of  leaves  is  to  be  light  red, 
all  else  black. 

No.  5.  —  Broad  bands,  brown;  steins  and  leaves, 
green,  shaded  brown  •  flowers,  blue. 

No.  6.  —  Outer  band,  light  green  ;  inner,  pale  yellow  ; 
wave-lines,  brown  ;  wheat,  light  yellow ;  the  white  dots 
of  the  engraving  color,  brown. 

No.  7. — The  ground  in  which  the  dots  appear  is 
pink.  What  is  black  in  the  engraving  should  be  brown 
in  the  object. 

No.  8.  —  A  very  light  grayish-blue  for  all  that  is 
black  in  the  engraving  \  the  half-tint  is  a  graded  shade 
of  brown,  for  relief. 

No.  9.  —  Same  as  No.  5. 

No.  10.  — All  brown  :  a  very  pleasing  pattern. 
No.  11.  —  Colored  like  No.  8. 

No.  12.  —  Outer  band,  purple;  ground  for  dots, 
green  ;  curved  lines  and  drops,  pink  ;  leaves,  green. 

No.  13.  —  Same  as  engraving,  except  a  deep-red 
ground  for  the  meander  or  fret. 

No.  14.  —  The  ovoid  or  shield  for  the  anthemion, 
dark  red ;  all  else  black. 


68 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


No.  15.  —  Outer  band,  brown;  larger  leaves,  light 
green  ;  flowers  and  spray,  pink. 

No.  16.  — All  brown:  favorite  design. 

No.  17.  —  Outer  band,  brown  ;  ground,  lemon-yellow; 
leaves  and  spray  same  as  outer  band  ;  flowers,  pink. 

No.  18.  —  Outer  band  and  design,  brown  on  lemon- 
yellow  ground. 

No.  19.  — Outer  band  and  design,  light  blue  on  dark- 
red  ground. 

No.  20.  —  Bands  and  stems,  brown  ;  leaves,  green, 
shaded  brown. 

No.  21.  —  All  brown  :  very  pleasing. 

No.  22. — Variation  of  Egyptian  lotus-bud.  Ground, 
black ;  stems,  and  shaded  portion  of  buds,  brown. 

No.  23. — Vermicelli  pattern.  Ground,  light  stippled 
brown  ;  bands,  dark  brown  ;  design,  black. 

No.  24.  —  Same  in  color  as  21. 

No.  25. — Ground,  black;  central  line  and  half-tint, 
shading  brown. 

No.  26.  —  Same  as  No.  9. 

Nos.  27  and  29.  —  Greek.  Colors  same  as  in  Nos. 
13  and  14. 

No.  28. —  What  is  black  in  pattern  make  a  golden 
brown. 

Nos.  30  and  32.  —  Greek.  Black  figures  upon  a 
russet  ground. 

No.  31.  —  Light  portion  of  leaves,  yellow;  shaded 
portion  and  bands,  brown. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION.  69 

No.  33.  —  Bands,  design,  and  dots,  brown  upon 
lemon  ground. 

No.  34.  —  The  black,  same  as  in  pattern  ;  the  half- 
tint,  green  on  a  buff  ground. 

No.  35.  —  Outer  band,  brown  ;  leaves,  green  on  green 
ground,  but  outlined  and  slightly  shaded  in  brown  5 
ribbons,  pink. 

No.  37.  —  Brown  design  on  deep-yellow  ground. 

Nos.  36,  38,  39,  40.  —  All  Greek  patterns.  Black 
upon  red  ground. 

The  above-described  combinations  of  color  are  as 
given  by  Wedgwood  :  they  can  be  varied  to  suit  the 
taste  of  the  decorator, 

COLORS. 

The  nature  of  colors  used  for  pottery  painting  of  all 
kinds  may  be  understood  thus  :  If  a  mixture  of  sand, 
borax,  soda,  and  lead,  be  made,  it  will  be  a  glaze,  as 
already  explained  :  if  it  be  made  so  soft  as  to  fuse  at  a 
comparatively  low  temperature,  it  is  called  "  flux. "  If 
"  flux  "  be  mixed  with  any  earth,  or  oxide  of  a  metal, 
such  as  rust,  that  is  not  destroyed  by  heat,  it  will  make 
a  color  with  which  a  china-painter  could  work  with  the 
certainty  of  his  work  coming  out  of  the  kiln  glossy, 
and  fixed  by  the  heat. 

Therefore,  as  a  general  rule,  colors  are  formed  of 
infusible  bases  mixed  with  a  flux,  the  hardness  of 


7o 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


which  usually  regulates  the  intensity  or  mildness  of  the 
fire  which  is  used  for  their  fusion. 

As  these  colors  may  be  procured  all  prepared,  either 
in  powder  or  already  mixed  for  use,  it  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  give  recipes  for  their  manufacture,  which  can 
be  obtained  from  the  various  works  on  the  subject. 

All  these  colors  must  fulfil  certain  conditions  indis- 
pensable to  their  use. 

1.  They  must  be  fusible  at  a  certain  known  tem- 

perature ;  they  must  be  unchanged  at  this 
temperature. 

2.  They  must  adhere  closely  and  intimately  to  the 

body  on  which  they  are  placed. 

3.  They  must  present  a  glossy  appearance  after  they 

are  fired. 

4.  They  must  be  so  perfectly  fused  as  to  be  imper- 

vious to  air,  water,  or  gases. 

5.  They  must  have  the  same  measure  of  dilatation 

that  the  ware  and  the  glaze  have,  on  or  under 

which  they  are  placed. 
It  is  always  necessary  to  have  a  color  more  fusible 
than  the  body  or  the  glaze  with  which  it  has  to  be 
incorporated ;  and  although,  in  general,  there  is  a  con- 
siderable difference  between  them,  as  is  the  case  with 
porcelain  bodies,  glazes,  and  their  colors,  yet  sometimes 
it  is  a  matter  of  very  delicate  adjustment ;  for  instance, 
in  the  case  of  enamel-painting  on  glass,  used  to  decorate 
the  better  class  of  Bohemian  wares. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION.  71 

In  the  case  of  soft  bodies,  as  in  some  kinds  of  por- 
celain and  faience,  the  difference  is  not  so  great ;  and 
some  ordinary  care  should  be  exercised  to  guard 
against  the  use  of  hard  color  on  a  soft  glaze. 

The  hardness  of  the  glaze  and  the  colors  is  a  ques- 
tion of  utility.  It  is  found  convenient  to  have  a  suffi- 
cient degree  of  hardness  to  enable  the  surface  to  resist 
the  scratching  or  chipping  that  may  be  the  result  of 
contact  with  harder  bodies  than  themselves. 

The  equal  dilatation  of  the  colors  is  a  very  important 
condition.  It  equally  applies  to  the  glaze  and  the 
body  j  for  it  is  obvious,  that  if  the  body  in  cooling, 
after  it  is  fired  in  the  glaze-kiln,  shrink  more  than  the 
glaze  that  should  exactly  fit  it,  the  glaze  is  broken 
ridgeways  in  crackle  lines.  More  generally  "  craze," 
or  crackle,  is  the  product  of  a  glaze  that  shrinks  more 
than  the  body.  In .  this  case,  small  interstices  are 
left  in  the  substance  of  the  glaze,  to  the  serious 
deterioration  of  the  appearance  and  durability  of  the 
vessel. 

This  is  a  matter  that  must  be  left  to  the  potter  ;  and 
it  is  usually  the  case  that  the  colors  are  practically 
fitting  to  the  bodies. 

These  verifiable  colors  may  be  arranged  under  four 
different  heads  :  — 

1.  Metallic  oxides,  forming  the  most  numerous  and 
important  class. 


72  CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION'. 

2.  Earths,  white,   or  colored    by   metallic  oxides. 

These  are,  in  general,  body  colors ;  do  not 

glaze  by  themselves,  but  receive  gloss  from  the 
glaze  which  covers  them. 

3.  Metals  in  their  simplest  conditions  :   they  are 

applied  in  films,  and  recover  their  brightness 
by  being  polished. 

4.  Lustres,  which  are  metals  in  a  state  of  finest 

separation  or  disunion  ;  so  that  they  even  re- 
flect prismatic  colors. 
There  are  two  methods  of  obtaining  colors  from  the 
metallic  oxides ;  by  one  of  these  the  oxide,  such  as 
that  of  copper  and  cobalt,  unites  chemically  with  the 
flux  when  it  is  fused,  and  forms  a  homogeneous  com- 
pound. 

With  others,  on  the  contrary,  the  flux  is  only  a  vehi- 
cle which  envelops  the  coloring-matter,  and  fixes  it  on 
to  the  body. 

The  colors  are  composed  of  various  silicates  or  alumi- 
nates  or  oxides  of  various  metals,  and  may  be  arranged 
under  the  following  general  heads  :  — 

Blues  are  almost  all  procured  from  cobalt,  which  is 
used  in  two  conditions,  —  one  as  silicate,  when 
it  produces  dark  blue,  which  is  heightened  or 
subdued  by  mixture  with  zinc,  sodium,  or  pot- 
ash, and  may  be  thus  varied  to  indigo  or  gray- 
blue.     In  its  other  condition,  as  aluminate,  co- 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION.  73 

bait  produces  various  shades  of  blue,  green, 
ultramarine,  or  turquoise,  and,  by  admixture  with 
iron,  gives  various  tints,  varying  from  light  gray 
to  black. 

Yellows  are  obtained  principally  from  antimony, 
zinc,  and  iron,  as  oxides  are  added  to  qualify  and 
vary  the  natural  color. 

Greens  are  obtained  from  chromium,  which  is  modi- 
fied by  cobalt  and  alumina. 

Reds  are  iron  colors,  oxides  of  various  degrees. 

Browns  are  formed  from  cobalt  and  iron  in  different 
relations  of  combination,  modified  towards  ochre 
and  yellow  brown  by  zinc. 

Blacks  are  obtained  from  cobalt  and  iron :  these 
are  intensified  with  copper  and  manganese. 

Whites  are  usually  enamels  of  tin :  phosphate  of 
lime  is  less  generally  used. 

Purple,  Violet,  and  Carmine  are  obtained  from 
gold  and  tin,  known  under  the  old  name  of  "  pur- 
ple of  Cassius."  It  is  modified  by  silver  to  obtain 
the  carmine  tones. 

These  colors,  as  already  mentioned,  are  so  qualified 
by  the  flux  with  which  they  are  mixed,  as  to  be  availa- 
ble for  various  applications  to  different  bodies,  and  to 
fuse  at  different  temperatures. 

It  may  be  roughly  assumed  that  there  are  three 
stages  of  heat,  which   are   called    "  ordinary  muffle 


74 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


heat,"  "hard  kiln,"  and  "gloss  oven  heat ; "  and,  as  an 
assistance  to  those  who  may  use  French  colors,  the 
grouping  of  M.  Salvetat,  head  of  the  chemical  depart- 
ment at  Sevres,  is  appended.  The  French  names  are 
merely  translated,  and  do  not  necessarily  apply  to  the 
colors  obtained  from  English  manufacturers. 


i.  Colors  for  ordinary  muffle  :  — 
Whites. 


Blanc  fixe  (permanent 
white). 


Blanc  Chinois  (Chinese 
white). 


This  latter  white  will  mix  with  all  other  colors,  and 
give  them  opacity  and  body. 


Grays. 
Gris  tendre  (light  gray). 
Gris  bleudtre  (blue  gray). 
Gris  roussdtre  (russet  gray). 

Blacks. 
Noir  grisdtre  (gray  black). 
JVoir      brundtre  (brown 

black). 
Noir  (F iridium  (black). 

Blues. 

Bleu  fonce  ou  d9 indigo  (deep 
or  indigo  blue). 


Bleu  turquoise. 
Bleu  d9azur. 
Bleu  de  ciel  (sky  blue). 
Bleu  d9outremer  (ultrama- 
rine blue). 

Greens. 
Vert  bleu dtre  (blue  green). 
Vert  de  pre  (meadow  green). 
Vert  fonce  dur  (deep  green). 
Vert  fonce    tendre  (deep 

green). 
Vert  bruit  (brown  green)0 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


75 


Yellows, 

Jaune  pale  fixe  (permanent 
pale  yellow). 

Jaune  clair  (light  yellow). 

Jaune fonce  (deep  yellow). 

Jaime  pale  pour  les  chairs 
(pale  yellow,  for  flesh). 

Jaune  orange  (orange  yel- 
low). 

Yellow  browns. 

Jamie  d'ocre  pale  (pale  yel- 
low brown). 

Jaune  d'ocre  fonce  (deep 
yellow  brown). 

Browns. 
Rouge  brun  (red  brown). 
Brun     roussdtre  (russet 
brown). 


Brim  de  bois  (wood  brown). 
Brun  sepia  (sepia  brown)* 

Reds. 

Rouge  orange  (orange  red). 
Rouge  de  chair  (flesh  red). 
Rouge    carmine  (carmine 
red). 

Rouge  sanguin  (blood  red). 

Purples,     Carmines,  and 
Violets. 

Carmine    dur   (hard  car- 
mine). 
Carmine  tendre. 
Pourpre. 
Violet. 


2.  The  colors  for  medium  heat  are  the  same  in  name, 
but  are  rendered  much  harder,  and  capable  of  bearing  a 
much  stronger  heat,  by  having  in  their  composition  a 
larger  proportion  of  one  or  more  of  the  oxides. 

The  decorator  must  not  use  the  colors  for  medium 
heat,  or  for  the  light  heat  of  the  ordinary  muffle,  until 
the  second  firing.  Gold  and  the  colors  for  light  fires 
are  wasted  by  being  put  through  the  hard  fire. 


76 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


3.  Colors  for  greatest  heat :  — 
Blacks. 
Noir  de  poix. 
Noir  bleudtre. 

Gray. 

Gris  de  fumee. 

Blues. 

Bleu  indigo. 
Bleu  d'azitr. 
Bleu  pale. 

Bleu  verddtre  et  bleu  aire. 
Bleu  turquoise. 

Greens. 
Vert  emeraude. 

English  colors  have  very  nearly  the  same  value,  as  to 
their  hardness,  as  the  French,  and  are,  in  general,  of 
similar  power  as  pigments. 

The  following  list  is  extracted  from  the  colors  used 
in  the  Royal  Pottery  Works  at  Worcester. 

In  all  cases,  it  is  to  be  advised  to  the  painter  to  make 
a  test  tile,  or  plate,  by  putting  a  small  portion  of  his 
colors,  whether  French  or  English,  on  to  a  piece  of  ware, 


Vert  celadon. 

Yellow. 
jFaune  de  paille. 

Rose. 
Rose  Isabelle. 

Brown. 
Brun  roussdtre  dit  ecaille 

(tortoise-shell). 
Laque  rougedtre  ou  bistre. 
Brun  marron  (maroon). 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION.  77 

in  any  order  that  may  seem  useful,  and  then  to  have  it 
fixed  in  the  kiln  in  which  his  finished  work  will  be 
fused.  This  will  give  him  a  standard  of  comparison, 
which  will  be  most  useful. 

The  most  usual  method  of  setting  such  a  test  palette 
is  to  divide  the  rim  of  the  plate,  or  length  of  the  tile, 
into  a  number  of  small  divisions,  and  then  to  paint 
in  the  first  set  all  the  different  yellows  and  their  com- 
binations, then  red  and  their  combinations,  then  blue, 
then  brown*  and,  finally,  black. 

Worcester  Colors. 
For  Fnamel  Painting. 


Blue    .  . 

Azure. 

Green  . 

.  Rose-leaf. 

a 

Mat. 

u 

.  Dover. 

a 

For   old  tile 

Gold  . 

.    (Prepared  rea- 

painting. 

dy  for  grinding). 

Brown .  . 

Brunswick. 

Maroon. 

H 

Vandyke. 

Orange 

.  Light. 

a 

Chocolate. 

U 

.  Dark. 

u 

Golden. 

Pink. 

Black  .  . 

Soft. 

Purple . 

.  RoyaL 

Jet. 

.  Ordinary. 

Shining. 

Rose. 

Carmine. 

Red. 

Green  . 

Blue. 

Scarlet 

78 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


Silver 


Turquoise 


Violet. 


(Double  pre- 
pared, ready 
for  grinding. 

Imperial. 

Outremer. 

Blue. 


White 


Soft. 


Enamel  ) 

"      .  Medium. 
.  Hard. 
Yellow     .  Persian. 
"    .    .  Hard. 
"    .    .  Opaque. 


Colors  for  Under  Glaze  Painting, 


Blue 


Brown  , 


Black. 

Buff. 

Crimson. 


Mat. 

Ultramarine. 

Azure. 

Claret. 

Vandyke. 

Chestnut. 

Dark. 


Dove. 
Green 


Orange. 

Pink. 

Purple. 

Turquoise. 

Yellow, 


Blue. 

French. 

Victoria. 


The  metals  are  used  in  their  simple  condition  by 
mechanical  disunion  being  effected  by  grinding,  or  by 
dissolution  in  acid,  from  which  they  are  precipitated. 
The  brownish  powder  thus  obtained  is  treated  in  all 
respects  as  a  pigment,  ground  fine  on  the  slab,  and 
used  with  the  brush  with  the  usual  medium.  It  is 
fired,  and  afterwards  burnished. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


79 


The  metals  most  commonly  used  are  gold,  silver, 
more  seldom  platina,  and  most  rarely  copper. 

This  method  of  applying  metallic  colors  is  called 
gilding,  and  is  a  perfectly  distinct  thing  from  the 
metallic  appearance  obtained  from  a  "lustre."  In  this 
beautiful  decoration,  the  particles  of  metal  are  so  thinly 
spread  as  to  become  iridescent ;  and  the  metallic  sheen 
is  independent  of  any  rubbing,  burnishing,  or  polish- 
ing, but  is  the  pure  product  of  the  kiln. 

There  are  several  kinds  of  metallic  lustre  produced 
from  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  platina.  In  the  case  of 
gold,  the  metal  is  dissolved  and  precipitated,  and  mixed 
with  turpentine,  and,  without  the  addition  of  flux,  is 
spread  with  a  brush  on  the  glaze  of  the  pottery,  much 
the  same  as  color.  When  fired  in  a  muffle,  it  adheres 
to  the  piece,  and  shines  with  a  bright  metallic  lustre, 
which  may  be  somewhat  increased  by  friction  with  a 
cloth.  Platina  lustre  is  prepared  in  much  the  same 
manner,  giving  its  shady,  silvery  shine  as  the  result 
of  its  firing.  Mother-of-pearl  lustre,  or  lustre  of  Bur- 
gos, has  the  changing  rosy  and  yellow  hues  that  are 
seen  on  many  shells.  It  is  transparent,  but,  mixing 
with  the  glaze  on  which  it  is  spread,  takes  various  and 
most  beautiful  colors.  Sulphur,  gold,  and  potash  are 
the  materials  from  which  it  is  made  :  it  is  sometimes 
seen  with  circular  spots  or  patches  of  shining  pure 
gold  in  tints.    These  are  produced  by  a  simple  manip- 


8o 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


illation.  For  hard  porcelain,  lustre  is  mixed  with  flux, 
and  spread  evenly,  and  as  finely  as  possible,  over  the 
surface  of  the  china.  When  it  is  still  soft, — that  is, 
before  it  is  dry,  but  after  it  is  set,  —  drops  of  spirit  are 
scattered  on  it ;  or  spirit  is  sprinkled.  These  drops 
spread  themselves  around,  dragging  with  them  the 
lustre,  which  takes  the  form  of  rings ;  and  the  material, 
being  much  thicker  here  than  elsewhere,  shows  the 
gold  in  its  brightness  net  only  as  an  iridescent  film ; 
and,  as  metallic  gold  is  here  present,  the  spots  are 
increased  in  brightness  by  rubbing  with  a  cloth. 

Copper  lustre  is  not  dissimilar  in  appearance ;  but  it 
is  usually  more  purple  in  tone.  It  is  seen  in  its  per- 
fection in  the  wares  of  the  Moors  of  Spain,  in  the 
pieces  called  Hispano-Moorish.  Their  wares  have 
been  unapproached,  until  Mr.  De  Morgan  took  up 
the  subject,  a  short  time  since.  His  lustres  now 
vie  with,  if  they  do  not  surpass,  those  of  the  old 
examples. 

The  lustre  cantharis  is  but  seldom  used,  in  spite  of 
its  brilliant  colors,  as  the  manipulation  is  very  compli- 
cated and  difficult.  It  is  formed  from  lead  glaze,  bis- 
muth, and  silver ;  and  the  difficult  part  of  the  firing 
process  is,  that,  when  the  piece  is  hot,  it  must  be 
exposed  to  the  smoke  and  vapor  of  burning  vegetables 
or  animal  substance.  It  takes  green,  reddish  yellow, 
and  blue  tints.    The  dangers  of  the  old  method  of 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


8l 


smoking  the  piece  while  red-hot,  by  removing  it  from 
the  kiln  for  the  purpose,  led  to  the  abandonment  of 
the  process.  It  is  believed  that  the  old  methods  all 
included  the  exposure  to  the  influence  of  thick  wood- 
smoke  of  the  piece  while  still  hot  in  the  muffle.  The 
lustre  of  lead,  or  litharge,  gives  yellow,  blue,  and  green, 
with  yellow  predominating.  It  is  seen  on  common 
wares  from  Germany,  and  occasionally  is  produced  in 
this  country. 

The  whole  range  of  lustre-ware  is  one  that  does  not 
come  into  the  amateur's  province.  The  processes  for 
the  production  of  the  pigment  itself  are  too  compli- 
cated, and  the  difficulties  of  firing  and  developing  the 
sheen  of  the  metal  far  too  risky  and  uncertain,  not 
only  for  the  amateur,  but  also,  it  is  feared,  even  for  the 
potter,  to  allow  these  beautiful  wares  being  produced 
in  large  quantities.  Mr.  De  Morgan  has  made  the 
most  perfect  lustres  of  the  modern  age,  but  only  after 
many  losses,  and  after  much  disappointment. 

It  is  assumed  that  the  china-painter  will  be  provided 
with  colors,  —  either  those  already  named,  and  put  into 
tubes,  or  with  the  powder  colors.  These  are  supplied 
in  powder,  which  has  been  rendered  almost  impalpable 
by  thorough  grinding  and  sifting;  but  in  the  course 
of  packing,  and  by  the  mere  effect  of  lying  closely 
together,  the  particles  stick  together  so  as  to  seem 
almost  gritty,  or  imperfectly  ground. 


32 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


This  grittiness  is  perfectly  removed  by  grinding  the 
powder  color  again  on  the  slab  with  a  muller,  with 
water.  When  perfectly  fine  again?  let  the  color  be  put 
in  ridges  on  a  slab,  or  a  piece  of  glass,  to  dry.  Then 
the  colors  may  be  mixed  at  once  with  medium,  and 
used  on  the  ware  with  no  further  difficulty. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


83 


MATERIALS    REQUIRED    FOR   CHINA  AND 
TILE  PAINTING. 


We  should  recommend  the  colors  which  may  be  ob- 
tained in  tubes,  prepared  and  ready  for  immediate  use  ; 
and,  for  the  convenience  of  the  beginner,  we  here  pre- 
sent two  lists  of  articles  used  in  china  and  tile  decora- 
tion. Box  No.  1  contains  only  articles  absolutely 
necessary ;  while  box  No.  2  is  more  liberally  supplied 
with  colors  which  it  will  be  found  convenient  to  have. 
These  boxes  may  be  had  in  full  or  in  part  of  the  pub- 
lishers of  this  book,  who  will  supply  all  materials  re- 
quired in  china  or  pottery  decoration. 

List  No  i  of  Articles  required  for  China  Painting. 

Colors. 

Carmine  No.  2    .    .    .    .  $0.45 

Deep  blue  50 

Mixing  yellow  30 

Red  capucine  30 

Purple  No.  2  60 

Yellow  brown  30 

Bitumen  30 

Black  30 

Chrome  green     ....  .30 

Violet  

Silver  yellow  30 

Orange  yellow  ....  .30 
Celadon.    ......  .30 


A  glass  palette    ....  $0.70 

A  palette-knife  30 

A  bottle  of  fat  turpentine  .30 
A  bottle  of  spirits  of  tur- 
pentine  30 


A  bottle  of  lavender-oil 


•35 


Brushes. 

Three  fine-pointed  camel's 
hair,  for  sketching  or 
outlining  the  design,  at 
5  cts.  15 

Two  of  different  medium 
sizes,  for  laying  in  the 
first  washes  of  color,  at 
10  cts  20 

Two  shaders,  at  10  cts.    .  .20 

One  softener  .....  .20 


Impression  or  transfer  pa- 
per  .  .10 

Tracing  paper     ....  .10 


A  box  containing  all  of  the  above, 


84 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION. 


List  No.  2. 


$0.70 

Colors. 

"         ^  larger 

-°5 

.  $0.30 

Two  palette-knives,  30  cts., 

•  -30 

40  cts  

,70 

Ultramarine  blue 

45 

Bottle  of  fat  turpentine  . 

.30 

.30 

Bottle  of  spirits  turpen- 

.30 

T-^i  f~n  YY1  An 

.30 

0 

I     0          1  n  A    \J  O  T 

.30 

Brushes. 

.30 

Six  fine-pointed  camel's 

i\o.  3    .    .  . 

•45 

Vi^iir     for    QlrpfpViin  o"  nt* 

Uclll,      LKJl      0  JVC  LL.111  I  lii  (Jl 

outlining  the  design,  at 

.  .30 

5  cts 

DnncfP  T'pl  1  r»w 

±  (JUL              1.11H.C1  C  11  L  111CLL1U.111 

C17PC     tot    ldvino"    in  tnp 

SIACO)    J.U1     Ictyillii     111  LI1C 

TYTivinnr  ■\7,p>11r»w 

first  washes  of  color,  at 

.  .30 

10  cts 

ACi 

Purple  No  2 

60 

40 

.  .30 

.  .30 
.  .30 

Impression  or  transfer  pa- 

.  .30 

.10 

Violet  of  gold,  light 

.  .60 

"           "  iron 

.  .30 

•  -30 

A  box  containing  all  of  the  above,  $11.00. 


Color  for  Grounds  or  Tints. 

Salmon  30  '  Lavender  blue  30 

Turquoise  blue  45  Mais  30 

Coral  red  30  Cafe  au  lait  30 

Celeste  .......      .45  ,  Water  green  (Vert  d'eau),  .30 

We  have  omitted  gold,  which  is  used  principally  for 
lining  and  touching  up.  It  will  be  more  economical  to 
have  it  put  on  by  the  party  who  does  the  firing.1 

1  Firing  done  twice  a  week,  by  Theodore  Walter,  16  Newton  Place,  Boston. 


CHINA  AND  TILE  DECORATION.  85 
Price-List  of  Tiles  for  Decoration. 


Six  Inches  Square, 

White  $0.20  each 

Cream  color  or  ivory  .20 

Turquoise  25 

Red  25 

Chocolate  25 

White  25 


Yellow  $0.25  each 

Green  25  " 

Octagon  white     .    .      .20    " 1 

Seven  Inches  Square, 

White  30  " 

Ivory  30  " 


Also,  black,  buff,  red,  and  drab  unglazed  tiles,  6 
inches  square,  for  oil  colors,  15  cts. 


Eight  Inches  Square, 

White  $040  each 

Ivory  40  " 


Six  Inches  Square. 

White,  round-cornered  .35 
^Green,buff,and  brown, 

in  imitation  of  leather  .35 
Round  tiles,  white  (8  in)  .60 


Porcelain  Placques, 

4  inches  by  6  inches  .  $0.40  each 

5  inches  by  10  inches    0.50  " 
10  inches  by  12  inches 

(heavy)     ....    1.50  " 

12  inches  square  .    .    2.50  " 

Long  Placques. 

6  inches  by  12  inches  2.00  " 
6  inches  by  18  inches  3.50  " 
8  inches  by  30  inches    7.50  " 


*  For  either  oil  or  mineral  colors. 

We  can  furnish  tiles  3  inches  square,  6  by  3  inches, 
and  any  other  sizes,  at  same  rate. 

S.  W.  TILTON  &  CO., 

333  Washington  Street,  Boston. 


These  colors  are  prepared  especially  for  Earthen 
Ware.  Vases  decorated  with  them  do  not  require  "fir- 
ing "  OR  baking.  The  colors  will  be  permanent  and  in- 
delible FROM  THE  MOMENT  THEY  ARE  LAID  ON.  TlIEY  DRY 
INSTANTLY,  AND  MORE  CLOSELY  RESEMBLE  THE  ANTIQUE  WARE 
THAN  ANY  OTHERS  THAT  CAN  BE  USED. 


TILTON'S 

Prepared  Pottery  Colors. 


Pottery  is  so  unlike  any  other  body,  on  which  colors  are  used, 
that  in  order  to  insure  success  one  should  have  the  colors  which 
are  especially  prepared  for  it. 

THESE  COLORS  V/ILL  NEITHER  RUB  NOR  GLAZE. 
The  Full  Set  of  six  colors  in  a  box,  with  Brushes,  Paint  Saucer,  &c.  .  $2.00. 

SEPARATELY : 

Vermilion,  Black,  White,  Yellow  and  Blue,  30  cts.  each;  Gold  50  cts. 

MANUFACTURED  AND  FOR  SALE  BY 

S.  W.  TILTON  &  CO.,  333  Washington  St.,  Boston, 

Who  will  supply  at  list  prices  pottery  and  all  articles  necessary  in 
the  Decoration  of  Pottery,  carefully  packed,  and  sent  to  any 
part  of  the  country.    Price  List  sent  on  receipt  of  stamp. 


Art  Recreations  : 

A  COMPLETE  GUIDE  TO  ORNAMENTAL 
WORK, 

Containing  Instructions  for  over  Thirty  different 
Household  Arts. 

Price,      -      -      •  =  $3.00. 


DESIGNS  AND  INSTRUCTIONS 

FOR 

DECORATING  POTTERY, 

In  Imitation  of 

Greek,  Roman,  Egyptian  and  other 
Styles  of  Vase. 

Price,  ...      50  cents. 


THE  ART  OF  MODELLING 

Wax  Flowers,  Fruits, 

VEGETABLES,  &c. 

With  Rules  for  Sheeting  Wax. 

Elegantly  Illustrated. 
Price,       -  #1.50. 


THE  ART  OF 

SKETCHING  from  NATURE, 

—BY- 
THOMAS  ROWBOTHAM. 

With  27  Illustrations. 
Price,    ------       50  cents. 


IN  PRESS. 


GREEK  ORNAMENT 

ADAPTED  TO 

POTTERY  and  PORCELAIN. 


S.  W.  TILTON  &  CO.,  Publishers, 

333  Washington  St.,  Boston. 


The  Publishers 

Will  send  any  of  the  articles  required 
for  the  practical  application  of  the 
treatises  on  this  page  on 
receipt  of  price. 


